We Were Once Perfect
by ClampLover
Summary: 2016 spoilers. After two years, Wally faces a long road back home. Fortunately, the Team is there to get him up to speed. Or, where Wally corrupts new members, Nightwing snarks, the new generation kidnaps, and Batgirl's the biggest BAMF of all.
1. You're Looking for the Sunset

**Title: We Were Once Perfect (1/?)**

**Warnings**: Potential spoilers for entire series and future episodes (yay head-canon ideas and guesswork!) Oh, and character death, both true and assumed.

_**Note: **__Hello again, everyone. Recently, I wrote another Young Justice story titled To Keep Your Memory in Me. One of the reviewers, the lovely and awesome __**Ally Marton**__, suggested a prompt that almost had me explode in a cloud of rainbows and redemption and smiles. _

_Wally supposedly dies in a mission, but somehow he comes back to the team years later, as Wally, not some Cadmus clone or traitor. How does the team (both old and new) react?_

_The three things __**Ally Marton**__ really, really wanted to see were:_  
Robin and co. thinking Wally's dead.  
Wally's apparently not dead after YEARS  
Pandemonium and hopefully joy ensues

_I hope I delivered, and I hope you all enjoy this as much as I did writing it. It's nice to let this group have a happy(ish) ending for once._

_Title taken from the Automatic Loveletter song, Hush. (Further musical influences of this chapter were She's Got You High by Mumm-ra and Ships in the Night by Mat Kearney)._

_Check end of story for about a billion more notes._

Disclaimer: I don't own, I'm unlucky like that.

**Update: Final revisions and additions on July 18. All author notes remain the same.  
**

(Working) Summary: A 2016 story. After two years of being gone, Wally faces a long road to home. Lucky for him, the entire Team determined to both love him and get him caught up to speed. Or, where Wally comes back to life, makes fun of his best friend's costume, and becomes the worst influence to the newest team members.

* * *

(May 1, 2016 6:46 AM).

Central City Cemetery looks gorgeous as always, especially in the early morning light. Unlike the majority of the birds silent around the area or in trees, a peculiar green one swoops down to a grave, with its black marble head stone polished and pristine. The words clearly read:

_Wallace Rudolph West_

_November 11, 1994 to May 11, 2014._

_Beloved Son, Friend, and Nephew_

_He Sped Away Too Soon_

A few bouquets composed of red and yellow flowers lay to the side, still fresh. The bird settles down beside them and morphs into a boy with green skin and fur, tail lazily swinging back and forth.

It's a tradition he started after Wally died (and it's still so weird, so wrong to admit that, to realize that the goofball to put him to shame will not come sliding around a corner as now-Nightwing calls out to for him to learn how to stop while simultaneously warn others of his best friend's presence).

The graves and idea of loss are impossible for Beast Boy to shake off, some days, with memories of his dad, then mom, and then his brother swimming in his head. It throws him home, leaving him not wanting to leave M'Gann's side, as if she'll be taken away too. But she's not here right now, no one is. Just him and Wally, because no one else will slyly spill gossip and compare souvenirs with him that same way.

"Alright, time to begin where we left off: why Superboy and my sister need to get back together edition. Reason 23: Lagoon Boy keeps calling me pipsqueak, and I don't like him. Oh! And he thinks he's going to one day beat Nightwing in a fight. Yeah, right!" (_Wally smiles and nods his head; see, totally not happening. Two on one, or technically three versus one depending on if Nightwing agrees with them. It's Wally so he will. Robin and Superboy too._)

"Bumblebee and Mal have been arguing over everything lately; whenever I walk into a room, they're just going on and on. I'll do the fly on the wall idea we came up with if they keep fighting. But I have better, more interesting news than them: the cleanup over the whole alien invasion thing is going pretty well; luckily the Justice League was tried innocent, I think? You gotta ask Icon about that cause I have no clue what he was telling us when they returned." (The entire Team was so exhausted that day, Gar doubts that even Robin paid attention).

"And don't worry, I snatched my latest souvenir just for you. We ended up having to go to Australia to hunt down the partner of the Europe guy from last time. You remember him, right? I got a boomerang! Someone threw it at my head when we were fighting. Nightwing told me I could take it and about how one of your villains has them. So this boomerang is both yours and mine. Sharing is caring," Garfield ends with a grin. _("Oh my god, you need a second sibling so you can relearn sharing is caring. Give me the ice cream!" Beast Boy leaps out of the way of Kid Flash as he lunges at Artemis, who spins out of the way herself and throws the empty carton at his head. "Do not be friends with your ex-girlfriends. They are evil, and I will laugh at you." Kid Flash mutters to Beast Boy as he goes to catch up to Artemis_).

Beast Boy likes coming to talk to Wally, someone who didn't judge him and thought that both his personality and green skin were "Kick-ass!" (_"KF, he's nine! Language.") _He's always wanted to be a part of the Team, to save both animals and people, he is his mother's son after all, but it's painful to be around the Cave this time of year, a week and a half before the two year anniversary of losing Kid Flash. He remembers last year how none of the original six were around the days before, of, and after. Sis came back, fine and unruffled to everyone who didn't know how to look, but it hurt Gar to see her upset. Aqualad (before Tula, before everything) had returned as well, seemingly fine, although Beast Boy couldn't tell because the dude had been that good. Artemis was already on break to finish up her last few weeks of school. Superboy and Nightwing (he was Nightwing then, right?) were both gone for far longer, ended up fighting harder until the rage and sorrow worked through their systems. (Beast Boy had been pretty useless in those fights, but everyone else was too, so it was okay.)

The memories of the last year hit Beast Boy as he prepares to say goodbye to Wally. Hopefully, year two would be better. (_No, it will be_.) He can feel it.

_(Beast Boy will later call himself psychic and spend two weeks guessing lottery numbers he'll con a yet to be identified teammate to buy for him-and Robin will find out who.)_

* * *

(May 7, 2016 8:45 PM)

Robin knows this will be a long night, with both Artemis and Batman in the Cave, waiting for Nightwing to delegate the mission roles.

Batman has the pinched look on his face that spells doom and unimagined horrors for all opposed. Robin doesn't love that look per se, but can appreciate it from a certain viewpoint. It means that Batman wants things done, _yesterday_, so get ready now. This is not an idle mission that has room for error. (La'gann will be thrilled, if he comes along).

"This is all hands on deck," Nightwing states (La'gann is coming along. _Note: Best course of action, if assigned team with him and Superboy, is to attempt to ignore their issues. If not an option, keep quiet and uninvolved. Worst case scenario, side with Superboy_. Priorities.)

Images of what looks like an unassuming warehouse flicker behind Batman and Nightwing; Robin is automatically on guard (so is Batgirl, although they seem to be the only two, no three, including Superboy, who is scowling, to notice that this is not a good place to fight. Bad things always happen in warehouses.)

"Intel reports show the possibility of this warehouse belonging to Illerlex, the company that also claimed ownership of the Cadmus facility in Washington D.C. While it seemed to be abandoned, the local police cams show increased activity along the streets and alleys surrounding it. Our mission is to check out these claims. Depending on what is seen, we may have to storm the facility. Batman will be coordinating possible support from the Justice League depending on what is found." Nightwing is clearly in his element, and yet again, Robin feels lacking in his training.

Despite Nightwing's assurances, Batman's occasionally proud nods, and Batgirl's easing protection, he's never going to be at the level of Nightwing, be the deciding factor in the fight (not that he wants to be, that's just _wrong _to wish for). He just hopes he doesn't end up being the reason for their loss in such an important battle.

"Miss Martian, Lagoon Boy, and Beast Boy are gamma: watch the waters at the docks, monitor potential shipments, and locate any further escape exits under water. Robin, Batgirl, and I are going to enter the warehouse first and analyze what exactly is located inside it. Finally, Blue Beetle, Artemis, Wonder Girl, and Superboy, I need you to wait on the rooftops. On my signal, come in swinging, if it comes to that. I don't think I need to stress how important handling this properly is. We cannot allow this to be a bust." Nightwing, Superboy, Artemis, and Miss Martian all seem to be gearing up for war, although Robin can't blame them. While Cadmus being a **Big Deal** isn't necessarily a secret, the true reasons as to why aren't often explained unless asked (_Robin didn't ask, but he wouldn't have been allowed on this team if he didn't know everything_).

* * *

(May 7, 2016 10:00 PM)

The warehouse is in a quiet part of some small California town. Despite the rain, Robin can still see the warehouse, barely two stories high, with no windows and the only non-docking entrances being two doors that are seemingly reinforced with steel. On the roof, however, is a small hatch, flakes of rust falling off as the trio slip inside and land on the metal grating of a walkway high enough to give a good view of the entire facility. There are countless shelves, filled to the brim with boxes and piles of miscellaneous objects, like tires and something shaped like a manhole cover. Nightwing motions for them to spread out as he updates the other teams and checks on their progress. It's Batgirl, tech woman extraordinaire, who finds _it_ though, a tiny computer carefully hidden behind two boxes on the north end of room, maybe ten feet away from one the two steel doors. She rapidly hacks, and a small chirp precedes two of the shelves being pushed left and right respectively to reveal a moderately sized lift, with a red lever in the center.

That is the extent of what Robin will be able to remember clearly about their trip down (_what happens after gets his full attention_). He has vague memories of certain other team members joining them, before they head on down. What they find is akin to a factory, with dozens of rows of pods, surrounded by countless computers, each with someone monitoring it, armed with guns and, possibly, other weapons. Everyone looks up to see who is coming down the lift; the team is mobilized before the lift is on the ground, before the group realizes it is not one of their own.

Over the hours, Robin takes down dozens of guard with well placed batarangs and his beloved bo-staff. More and more come out of doors that materialize out of the walls, but they're no real match for the Team going at full power. In fact, Robin thinks the most difficult part is avoiding the pods and glass shattered during the fight, enough that only a minority remain intact, sprinkled in various locations in the room.

The year and a half of training with Batgirl and Nightwing allows him to always have a vague idea where they are, what they're fighting. Therefore, it is no surprise when Robin is the one to notice the change in Nightwing, as he suddenly, stop dead, dropping his Eskrima sticks. All he does is stare straight ahead, to the complete opposite side of the room. An arrow sent by Artemis to stun the guard approaching him spurs Nightwing back to life.

Robin winces at the shriek of "KF!" that comes over the mental link and is vocalized by his brother.

Stunned, he sees Nightwing sprinting across the place, jumping over the bodies of guards and ignorant of everything else, until he slams into a console next to the occupied pod, translucent glass doing little to hide what looks to be a red-headed man. Seconds later, Superboy, who Robin thought was on the first level of the building, materializes out of nowhere, barely holding back from breaking into the pod himself.

Robin can't hear either of them, but clearly sees them gesture wildly as the pod begins to make noise and starts to open. Blue Beetle tenses next to him as he takes down one of the last guards, and Wonder Girl flies back down and asks, "The fight over?"

"Hey!" Artemis shouts, the last of her arrows flying into the stragglers coming through a wall-door; it only takes a few minutes for the trio, Artemis, and Batgirl to finish them off. By the time Robin looks back to Nightwing and Superboy, he sees his brother on his knees, next to where the red-headed stranger is sprawled out. Robin thinks he can see him breathing, but the distance is preventing him from identi..."KF," Robin states quietly. (_Impossible, oh god, they had thought Dick was handling it better this year. He's going to be crushed and disappear for a week and Bruce won't be able to find him until the actual anniversary when he screams at the grave about Wally not being allowed to be dead. Again. Worrying is a good idea._)

Artemis is off like a rocket upon his whisper, Batgirl following for a few yards before taking a hard left, cords from her gauntlet already out as she reaches one of the few remaining computers and starts scanning into everything.

Wonder Girl rocks back and forth on her heels and asks, "Did we miss something really important?" Blue Beetle shrugs next to her and replies, "No clue, chica. It's a little too over crowded there to see anything." And that is true, Superboy's back and the wild mess of Artemis's hair blocks most of the view of the mysterious man in a white body suit.

Robin sighs and leans against a wall to think; no one else is going to call the rest of the team. Just as he's about to contact Miss Martian, Nightwing's voice comes across the line, sounding off and distant, "Miss M! Prep the Bio-Ship and send word to Mal to make sure Batman and Martian Manhunter are waiting for us. Now! Everyone meet at the ship in three minutes."

"Well, I guess we'll find out soon enough," Wonder Girl reflects. Robin shares a look with Batgirl, who has picked up on the difference as well.

This is not going to end well for anyone.

(_And it doesn't, in any way, shape, or form. Nightwing is holding the pale man with red hair but keeping him generally sheltered from the majority of the team, aided by Artemis and Superboy, who apparently isn't carrying the man just so he can punch holes through the walls of the supposed warehouse, making it easier and quicker for Nightwing to leave. Judging from the grip Nightwing has on him, coupled with the look on his face, Robin doubts he'd have let go regardless of Superboy being stronger. _

_Miss Martian almost loses all color when they get to the ship and tears up as Nightwing, Superboy, Artemis, and herself all lay the person(?) down on a medical cot placed in the far back of the ship. No one even thinks to question the group, all of whom settle into seats, except Nightwing, who crashes on the floor next to the bed and dares anyone to try and sway him differently._

_They don't._)

* * *

(May 8, 2016 1:00 AM)

There's a lot of raised voices once the departed members of the Team (if only she wasn't with Dr. Palmer!) arrive back to the cave, but the loudest are Superboy (_what a shocker_) and Nightwing, who sounds like he is completely losing his shit (never thought she'd see the day). Bumblebee turns away from Mal to see all the senior members of the team surrounding a bed Superboy and Nightwing are joint carrying. All four of the group ignore them as they disappear down a different corridor.

Wonder Girl, Beast Boy, Lagoon Boy, and Blue Beetle come in soon after, trailed by Robin and Batgirl, who just activates some of the monitors and opens her own holographic computer on her gauntlet, not even bothering to acknowledge anything outside of her own little world.

Never let it be said Karen didn't know a lost cause when she saw one.

"So," turning to face the remaining five (four, Robin's an inch away from booking it), "how did the mission go?"

The zeta beams behind her announce both Batman and Martian Manhunter's arrival; Robin's already at his mentor's side and directing them to where they have to go. Batgirl barely looks at them, even as they walk off.

"Alright then. Which one of you is least likely to pass out as they tell me what the hell happened_ this time_?" It's going to be a long(er) night. Mal sighs behind her, once again in perfect agreement.

* * *

They've put him in a basic medical room, complete with a small team of frantic doctors and the Martian duo. While Dick consented to leaving the room (_not forced, he held it together, despite the looks Bruce is sending him_), he's not budging from his position at the window (_and he made damn sure to 'accidentally' rip the curtain that could have prevented his view_).

It doesn't take a near decade of life together to know how…frustrated his adoptive father is; the emotions, while controlled, usually radiate off him in these types of extreme situations. Dick has no illusions that this conversation can be pushed off.

"It's him."

"Can you hear yourself right now?" The worst part is how concerned he sounds, in his own way. Dick can tell, even if no one else can.

"It's him, Bruce. It has to be." The second it leaves his lips, Dick knows how much it will cost him.

He is not disappointed. "Need I remind you this is Cadmus? Even if he's not a clone, he's dangerous and unstable." Dick looks up, defensive protest on his lips.

Bruce ignores him. "More importantly, you're too focused on your emotions to notice this is a trap. The day before the anniversary of his death, he randomly appears in the specific location you attacked. We both know you never gave up hope he was somehow alive." (Dick should have known better than to think he kept that a secret, but getting completely wasted and screaming at Wally's apparently fake grave could have clued anyone in). "This doesn't make sense."

"I'm not complaining."

"You should be."

"I know." And that's the thing; Dick knows he should be panicking, or at least more concerned about the situation, especially as leader of the Team. (His objectivity is shot to hell right now; again, he admits this.) But he's not. There's just this serene calm when he looks into the room and sees Wally, because he _knows_ it's him. Bruce will spend the night trying to dissuade him of that, but it's true. The second he got his hands on Wally, everything connected back into place for the first time in two years.

(_He laughs at Batgirl's token murmur of longing after they send a few Cadmus guards through the computer monitors they were stationed at. Babs has never been able to pass up updated technology, and Cadmus is top of the line. He goes to hit the next set of guards, but, as they drop, a reflective surface catches his eye. One of the broken pods, a much more fragile version than the one they found Superboy in all those years ago, suddenly tips over, like a majority of the ones surrounding it, giving Nightwing a direct line of sight to the far side of the room._

_He heart, for the first time in two years, starts with a beat he thought it forgot: _wallywallywally._ Even though he's far away, his blood is singing (is it? or is he just noticing for the first time that it is still flowing through his body) and telling him what he already knows is true. Enclosed in an intact pod is his best friend, and Dick freezes, wonders if movement will take this away from him. An arrow whizzes two inches in front of his face, and he is gone, sprinting to the other side of the room and screaming, "KF!" be real be real be real be real._

_He skids into the computer set next to the pod (and it is so clearly Wally that Dick's heart breaks and mends once every second) and frantically hacks, notices the stats that show a firm heart beat and no injuries reported. Superboy is at his side a moment later, making an impressive hole in the ceiling that Dick takes a moment to admire while avoiding lingering debris._

_Superboy goes pale and looks at Nightwing. "Clone?" The cautious tone cannot hide the hopeful look on his face or the way his hands keep trying to reach out to touch the glass._

_"I think it's him." Superboy doesn't comment on the waver in tone, only sees his expression mirrored on Nightwing's face._

_They both want this too much to be objective, and both become breathless as the pod finally opens, gently releasing Wally, who is quickly caught and laid on the ground._

_Nightwing starts noticing everything he can: the same shade of hair, the same scar on his left hand from falling out of a tree at the age of seven, the same muscle structure as the day he died._

_He's going to get hell for this, but every part of him is desperately screaming for Wally, that it really is him._

_The look on Superboy's face proves he's not alone._)

* * *

Batgirl tears herself from whatever files she had been poring over around 3:30 AM to bring him a beautifully large cup of coffee (Dick knows Babs missed Wally too, knows she wants this to be true almost as much as they (_he_) desperately do). He still hasn't moved from his position at the window.

Dick questions Babs when she lingers by his side, "Isn't your dad going to kill you? Artemis's mom threatened to come down here herself if she didn't at least attempt to get a few hours of sleep." Bruce more or less gave up on him for the time being, bringing Robin back to Gotham and going off to analyze the data they collected from Cadmus in the Batcave, leaving Dick to his own devices. (It's a flimsy pretense; Dick knows there are cameras on all of them.)

"What are you talking about? I'm currently sleeping over Bette Kane's house to celebrate her being home from college. We're going to be gossiping until we crash at sunrise, and I'll end up going home in the middle of the day because we're so tired." Barbara smirks, and Dick remembers why he is so often awed and slightly frightened of her. He and Tim joke that being her level of cunning is a super power and she's going to take them all down.

"Has he woken up at all?"

"No, but his brain activity is being monitored; both the doctors and Miss Martian think it's only a matter of time before he wakes up." Dick had been relieved beyond words at that. "We're waiting to alert his family until then." No sense breaking any more hearts if this wasn't Wally (_it is_).

Babs leans against him, her sign of solidarity. She most likely knows how well his confrontation with Bruce went, and she never bothers with futile endeavors (most situations eventually change when faced by her, but not Dick, not over this). She doesn't bother to ask if he's okay, because he is and isn't (if Wally's returned, he'll be the best he's been in years; he doesn't want to think about how crushed he'll be if Wally isn't in that bed). The best part is she understands he recognizes all of this, making it easy for her to ask, "So why aren't you in there with him?"

"Condition from Batman. It was the only way he'd stop the interrogation for now. He's right to be distrustful."

"Yeah, he is. But here you are, anyway. That means something too." Babs yawns and swipes a sip of his coffee before heading out, most likely back to her computers.

"I forgot to mention that I reprogrammed the camera half an hour ago. It's currently on three alternating loops of footage. The doctors have been...persuaded...not to mention that you entered the room, if they catch you. And the door's unlocked. You're welcome." Dick knows she's smiling, even if he can't see her face, and can't help but beam at her retreating figure.

He knows where to throw his lot during her inevitable global takeover.

Moments later, he settles into a chair next to Wally's bed, and the relief that blooms in his chest is unprecedented.

* * *

(May 8, 2016 4:00 AM)

Dick ends up dozing lightly, but is woken up to an increased set of beeps that will inevitably bring countless others into the room.

He shoots out of the chair and sees green eyes staring back at him.

After a few seconds, Wally rolls his eyes and asks, "Oh god, how badly damaged am I? You only bother with the chair when I'm near death. You not shoving me around on the bed scares me man, especially because I feel fine...what the hell are you wearing anyway?"

Dick, for the first time in two years, hugs his best friend and doesn't let go until the door opens for both Martian Manhunter and M'Gann.

Even then, he doesn't leave the room, Bruce's warnings be damned.

* * *

This was going to be a short prologue-ish kind of thing, to set up all of the inevitable drama and issues with Wally coming back. I thought it might be a small scale, two or three part story. Yeah, doubt that's going to happen. Damn, this is going to be a beast. I'm so excited!

While I was writing this, what I had wanted for it, a big reaction piece where the primary character was Nightwing, changed. While Nightwing and Wally are still going to be a huge part, I think, at the heart of this, is the team and how they react when one of their own comes back (and how Wally reacts to coming back after years). And I'm going to be using ALL the team (including the characters we're not supposed to know about/are waiting to debut, such as Roy, Tempest, and Impulse, if they even show up) and a lot of side characters as well.

This chapter is more action oriented set up that the following chapters, so if you're looking for pure emotion, that is coming up ASAP. Lord only knows I am. Seriously, I'm already planning out each reaction, from how geeked out Wonder Girl will be to how happy a reunion the Flash is going to have.

Again, when I wrote this, I did not expect how many possibilities and ideas would come. Curse you Ally Marton.

Anyway, thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy what this story will become (and it will be happy in the end, he's the real Wally).

Preview for next chapter (sometime within the next week or so)

"Dude, who's the guy in blue talking to himself?"

"That's Blue Beetle. You can meet him later."

"Is he still going to be talking to himself? Cause that introduction can be last. Speaking of introductions, where's Kaldur and the rest of the aqua friends?"

"About that..."


	2. As Quiet as it Gets

**Title: We Were Once Perfect (2/?)**

**Warnings**: Potential spoilers for entire series and future episodes (yay head-canon ideas and guesswork!) Oh, and character death, both true and assumed.

By this point, what little canon remains is all on character and possibly what the hell I do with Roy next chapter (and Artemis, if she shows up-I think she will, as will Wally (fingers crossed)).

_**Note: **__**So, you're all wonderful, all you reviewers, readers, and favorite list adders.**__ You have no idea how much I light up when those numbers increase. It makes me love writing for you all. And I try to respond to all reviewers, so anons, feel free to leave an email or a way for me to tell you how much I love you. ZS-I'm glad you felt so strongly lol, and I've never been threatened with the Joker-I approve of this, however. And Anon-I'm not sorry the emotions killed you, but I hope this delivers; and if it makes you feel better, think of this as an alternate happy version, even if I don't. _

_Once again, this is based of the wonderful __**Ally Marton**__'s prompt: Wally supposedly dies in a mission, but somehow he comes back to the team years later, as Wally, not some Cadmus clone or traitor. How does the team (both old and new) react? The things she definitely wanted were the team actually thinking Wally had been dead for years and them happily going mental getting him back. I took that basic prompt and further elaborated to make it a story of Wally (__and technically us with this time skip__) coming to terms with everything that changed. And everyone is going to appear sooner or later in this story._

_And yet again, I hope I delivered, and I hope you all enjoy this as much as I did writing it._

_Title taken from the Automatic Loveletter song, Hush. Further musical influence, of this chapter at least, comes from Poison & Wine by the Civil War and the previously mentioned Ships in the Night by Mat Kearney._

_Remembers, reviews are love. Check end of story for about a billion more__** notes.**_

Disclaimer: I don't own, I'm unlucky like that.

**Update: Final revisions and additions on July 18. All author notes remain the same.**

**Summary**: 2016 spoilers. After two years, Wally faces a long road back home. Luckily, the Team is determined to both care and get him up to speed. Or, where Wally comes back to life, makes fun of his best friend's costume, and is a horrible influence.

* * *

(May 8, 2016 4:15 AM)

It's a combination of both Wally shooing him away and Batman's grip on his arm (and he is out of it to have not noticed _that_ arrival) to get him out of the room. Wally waves goodbye cheerfully before grinning at Miss Martian, who has fixed the curtain and spread it across the window, preventing Nightwing's view. He liked her so much better before tonight.

It's the last time he sees Wally for five hours. As soon as the two are separated, he gets threatened back to Gotham and falls asleep on a work bench in the Batcave, not bothering to walk up to his room. He comes to at the sound of Batman's voice near the main computer, asking about trigger phrases.

Nightwing bolts up at that, memories from five years ago (_Superboy, Roy_) replaying muzzily in his head. Batman doesn't bother looking at him for another minute, but finishes his call to who Nightwing suspects is the Martian Manhunter.

"What did they say?"

Batman frowns, but meets Nightwing's gaze.

"His blood work came back fine, and DNA results confirm his identity as Wallace West; however," Bruce is interrupted by Dick, "However, look what happened to Roy. I remember. But this is the real Wally, isn't it?" Sweet validation.

"Both Miss Martian and the Martian Manhunter seem to think so. There are no artificial memories or subconscious orders." Batman frowns and quiets for a moment before continuing, almost blandly, "Furthermore, his brain patterns possess a uniqueness that Red Arrow's never had, and he does have a distinct idea of the mission he died on."

"Fake died on." Nightwing does not pout. (Dick does.)

"Regardless, he's still to be under supervision, not yours," Batman sends him a look that explains volumes, "at all times until he is confirmed to not be a hazard to anyone. Even when cleared, until it is discovered why he was found at this point in time and location, he is not allowed to interact with the general public, for his own sake." While Batman still looks tense and unhappy with the entire situation, he waves Nightwing off to change and get something to eat from Alfred before he heads over to Mount Justice.

Twenty minutes later, Dick, wearing a pair of black jeans, a blue shirt, sunglasses, and his favorite leather jacket, ushers Tim, as Robin, to a zeta tube. (Bringing Tim along is his best idea yet, mainly because everybody would win. Wally would do what everyone else had and develop a soft spot for Tim, and Tim is one of the few people Bruce can trust to keep Dick in line, often through sheer hero-worshiping guilt trips that Tim will only later realize he has been involved in. Win-win.)

* * *

(May 8, 2016 8:58 AM)

Miss Martian brings him breakfast around 9:00 AM, despite his protests that no one should be awake at this time. (He has been awakened only to be prodded and drugged back to la-la land earlier, and he wanted to stay there, thank you very much). She looks so different, especially with her smaller mouth and shorter hair. Her looks aren't the only thing that has changed; he finds her more serious now, and it furthers the itch he has to want to understand what exactly is going on. (Wally knows they're probably waiting for his family, or at least Dick, to break whatever the news is. He probably should have insisted on Dick staying.) Another cause for concern is the lack of Superboy in sight; they were inseparable the last time Wally saw them, a few days ago. (Seriously, how long was he out? People, Dick, should not be so tall.)

M'gann beams at him, and, regardless of his thoughts, when she kisses his forehead as she puts the tray of toast, eggs, and orange juice down on his lap, he feels home. She sits in Nightwing's former chair and just stares at him as he takes his first bite.

The food is cooked to perfection. Wally is on his guard instantly. (A few hours before the mission, they had to use two fire extinguishers in the kitchen. The bottom of Artemis's hair became singed and even Kaldur looked close to swearing.)

"So, beautiful, anything you want to tell me?" He smiles at her, hoping for sympathy points with the whole 'help me, aren't I adorably confused' routine that has only ever worked on her, slightly. (She was the one who would always sneak him extra cookies when he wound up in a medical bed, in-between Dick's rants about everything he did that led to aforementioned need of medical aid and Arty's ever-growing list of the times he needed to go there directly after their missions. Last time he checked the number was eighty-seven, with him attempting to vibrate through a wall, causing it to explode).

"Nope, everything is fine. I'm just so happy to be here with you," she replies, teary-eyed. (_Oh god, crying female friend. Fight of Flight. Love Miss M, Superboy won't kill me much for making her cry, still a risk though. Not worth fleeing. Dick will drag me back, pissed._)

Tears. Yup, something's wrong. This is just the latest clue, besides the avoidance of his answered question.

An obvious hint is the fact that everyone looks different, especially Rob, who had been debating a costume change the last time they talked, but hadn't necessarily decided on anything. Wally isn't sure how he feels about the lack of cape.

Then there are the people who occasionally stop outside his window to look in, including a blonde girl he doubts he has ever met and someone wearing bright blue armor. Neither one gets to linger before someone, most likely Superboy, is barking at them to move it. Still, new people in Mount Justice? Ha, not with Batman in charge.

Finally, no one will look him in the eye. At all. Really getting on his nerves.

He wants his uncle. Or his aunt. Or his best friend. Or even a parent if they'd consent to come up. He can't afford to be picky (_Uncle Barry, Aunt Iris, or Dick, if you're listening God._)

Just please, no more doctors.

About a half hour after he's eaten, Miss M gets a message over her comm (where did his go? He always gets a lecture when they get destroyed. Not appreciated) and heads to the door, reluctantly. She goes to hug him and does that 'I'm worried and love you and don't want to leave you' look that she always gives them after they've done something incredibly stupid and she's fearful for their lives, but, for the sake of the mission, she has to go on.

She bumps into Dick (at least someone is finally listening to his pleas) and someone else Wally can't see, hiding in the shadows, a variation of bat, if he had to guess. (Batgirl, YES!). They stay outside of his room, and he knows they're ignoring the faces he's making behind their backs.

"Should you be awake right now?"

"HOLY CRAP!" Wally does not shriek or nearly have a heart attack when he hears a voice on the opposite side of his bed, away from the door. "How did you get here? What the hell are you wearing?" In the flesh is a Robin, not his Rob, not Dick, but some new guy (who got the colors right if nothing else).

"Wally!" And there's his Rob, panicked in his fashion (a.k.a still passing for collected and composed in the opinion of the general public, just with a raised eyebrow and a hand on his utility belt, as if someone is attacking). "What's wrong?"

Wally gestures at New-Robin and gives Dick (what else is he going by these days?) a patented 'duh' look. For a second, he sees a similar version on New-Robin's face before it gets schooled into a blank expression.

"Oh, yeah. This is my brother. You two play nice until I'm done talking to Miss M, okay?" And with that Dick turns around and leaves them to their own devices.

Wally takes this as permission to interrogate, or at least look at, this New-Robin, who is fidgeting slightly with his utility belt, something he got from Dick. (If he got it from Batgirl, he'd be bringing up a computer and mocking him now instead of being silent. _She better be coming soon_).

"Alright New-Robin, let's start this right. I'm Wally, and you're going to love me for my looks and for all the embarrassing stories I have about your brother. Now you." He sticks out his hand, and after a brief moment of hesitation, new-Robin grabs it and shakes.

"That's not what he told me. All of his stories have him as the long-suffering sane one."

"Filthy lies. All of them. Did he tell you how he we met?"

"Once. Something about you bumping into him and not 'shutting up because they should have named him Kid Mouth'." He uses air quotes and looks to be fighting a smile, but Wally can't see his eyes, so he's not sure.

"See, he's telling it wrong. He failed to dodge, which is a discredit to your ninja training, and between the two of us, he was the snarky, talkative one. I'm the victim. Did he ever tell you about Peru?"

New-Robin perks up slightly, "No?"

"Alright, telling this story made Red Arrow nearly cry in hysterics, so get ready. This is my birthday and Christmas gift to you."

"Except no, it's not." Dick reappears, and Wally laughs and leans over to New-Robin, "Just mentioning the country can get him to materialize anywhere. More effective than the Bat-Signal. Remember that, Peru."

Automatically, upon hearing Dick's voice, Wally shuffles on the bed, leaving plenty of room on the right side. Robin looks confused, and Wally admits it is an adorable look _(how likely is Batman to kill me if I corrupt this one? I'm vaguely confident he secretly approved of me when it came to Dick_). "Back when your brother wasn't being freakishly tall, he used to be a tiny midget smaller than the name you inherited. We'd easily be able to fit on beds much smaller than this. Whenever one of us wound up in the medical ward, the other would sneak a laptop and movies for entertainment. Our attempt to keep the other from springing himself too early. Of course, he was always impossible to stop once he decided on it." He shares a look of commiserations with New-Robin, Wally's new favorite bird.

Dick sighs behind him but takes the offered spot. Wally lightly punches him in the thigh, his silent version of hello. (They've made a code in case they're not at liberty to talk. Dick's answering triple poke in the arm means monitored, but only by Batman. Good enough. Wally then crosses his arms over his chest and blinks three times: can we talk? Dick grabs Wally's palm and draws an R with is index finger, followed by Dick snapping his fingers once: Later, when Robin leaves the room.)

Even though it's a different Robin, with a different blank face, Wally knows he thinks they're crazy, along with a dose of suspicious.

"Robin, get Superboy. And tell him to stop encouraging Beast Boy to morph into animals that are small enough to let him in unnoticed." Robin looks grim, and possibly a little nervous as he leaves (which is crazy because Superboy is a teddy bear of only moderate rage issues when it comes to younger heroes). Yet again Wally finds himself grinning and waving obnoxiously. As soon as the door closes, he goes limp against Dick.

"What aren't they telling me?" Wally feels Dick tense more than he sees it.

"What mission were you last on?" Dick's voice doesn't waver until the word last, and that, if nothing else, wrecks Wally, firmly proves things are Not Okay.

"We were somewhere in Brazil, hunting down members of the cartel potentially being funded by the guy with the mustache, don't bother telling me again, I'm never going to remember the name. Almost all of the guards were taken out, and you and Batgirl had finished hacking everything. I felt something hit my head, and then I was out. Oh fuck! There was a bomb, gosh, can't forget that."

"Wally." Dick jumps off the bed and starts pacing the room, and opens and closes his mouth about six times before Wally responds with, "Dick!" and both eyebrows raised. "Just tell me."

"It's 2016. Kid Flash died on a mission two years ago, getting caught in an explosion in Brazil. While his body was never recovered, human remains and partial dental records confirmed that he had been killed in action," Dick tells him in a clinical, detached tone that quickly melts to frantic as he paces the room, "And you've missed so much, but not for one second have we forgotten you, alright? You need to know that, no matter what, you coming back is the greatest thing to ever happen to this team. We found you yesterday in a Cadmus facility, but you're not a clone. We've been checking, that's why you've been knocked out with meds this whole time. Miss M and Martian Manhunter are sure of that. You're you and I'm me, oh, but not Robin me. Obviously. And I need to shut up now because I'm not sure how much of that you should know and I'm not keeping it together...I'm not feeling the aster."

Wally's head swims, and the only thing that keeps him from going off completely is the stupid closing sentence Dick utters, because, no matter what, that is his best friend, despite years. This is home. And he'll be okay.

"Alright," and his voice does shake on that, "how old are you?"

"Nineteen in a few weeks." Dick looks like his father now, and that's the last thing Wally needs (the first is, apparently, a time machine).

"Score! Still older than you."

"Wally!" The sunglasses are off, and Wally is screwed. "Don't pretend you're okay. Not to me."

Something tightens in his chest, and the "Not like you could tell after all this time." comes out so viciously, it surprises himself as well as Dick, who momentarily looks sucker punched until he straightens out to full height and responds, "I've spent nearly eight years knowing you better than I do myself, and I'll spend the rest doing the same thing."

"Sorry, man." And he is. Dick, despite the costume change of last night and the growth spurt, is his as much as he is Dick's. His best friend, his one constant.

Dick frowns, but stops pacing and leans against the foot of the bed. "Don't be. You can more or less go murder someone and I'd still be thrilled you're back. Batman won't be, but me, yeah."

"How is Bat-Daddy anyway? I figured he'd be in here grilling me. Head of us and all."

"Well, I got your interrogation; you're welcome. Things I do for you. And I'm in charge now."

"Sweet. Favoritism." Dick's smile loosens up what had clenched in his chest.

Wally breaks the silence, "This isn't going to be easy, is it?"

"No. But we'll get through it, I promise."

Superboy speaks from the door, "By we'll, he means the entire team. Not just you two. All those pep talks you," he points to Wally, "gave about family and unity, heh, welcome to karma."

"Baby Supes! You learned about karma and pep talks while I was dead. Be still my heart." Superboy gently hits him across the back of the head before quickly hugging him.

"Feel free to drop the act any time." Superboy gives him a look similar to Dick's and leans against the wall.

"I can't." Both just stare him down. "It might be the only thing keeping me together." And he doesn't want to admit that, but he can't help feeling fragile. (He hates this feeling so much.)

Dick impulsively grabs his hand and squeezes. "I, we," looking at Superboy, who nods, "can't give you those two years back, although we'd do anything if we could."

"I know what it's like to be spied on, looked down upon as if you're the biggest loose cannon in the world, but we won't do that to you. You've got us, the Team, behind you. And if we can't make this right, we can make it okay again."

Wally is so emotionally drained, but so stunningly grateful, that all he can do is nod before yawning.

Dick lets go of his hand and whispers in his ear, "I'll be here when you wake up, and then we'll get your family. And don't even think of apologizing or saying thank you because I know you, you'd be doing the same thing for me and then some, because you'd know what to say and be the only one who'd make me laugh."

He heads out the door, followed by Superboy, who turns at the last second to retort, "Here's looking at you, Kid."

Wally's protest of, "Oh my god! Who fucking taught him about movies and _Casablanca_ while I was gone? I love you!" left a smile on their faces as he passed out, yet again.

(_"That could have gone worse," Superboy mutters. _

_Dick nods. _

_"And seriously, you think I can get Beast Boy to stop doing things? That's on you."_)

* * *

(May 8, 2016 11:45 AM)

Wonder Girl lingers outside a corridor leading to the medical ward and the most infamous person in Mount Justice, armed with nothing but her brains and a pen for her autograph book.

She ducks out of the way, hoping she isn't spotted by Nightwing and Superboy, but to no avail.

"Not again! Your turn!" Superboy shouts and goes off in the opposite direction.

"Do I even want to know?" Nightwing asks her, crouched down outside the doorway.

"Nope?" And Wonder Girl's fake giggle only makes Nightwing stop and glower at her (She really needs to work on keeping her mouth shut.)

"Okay, Superboy more or less growled at anyone he didn't approve of going down the hallway, and I want to see if it really is Kid Flash, like Miss Martian said." (She may or may not have been eavesdropping as M'gann talked to Lagoon Boy, so sue her. She was curious! That's a good thing in a crime fighter).

"Miss M..."Nightwing groans, and Wonder Girl may be off the hook yet.

"Wonder Girl, if any of us catch you going down there to bother Kid Flash without permission, you're suspended off missions for two weeks," Nightwing warns her, before pulling her by the bicep away from the area.

"Blue Beetle too?"

"He can get three weeks; after all, he's not going for an autograph and ego boost, is he?" Nightwing smirks, but doesn't stop steering her away.

She sighs and ruefully accepts temporary! defeat (which probably wouldn't have happened if Batgirl had promised to help her, but she just started throwing batarangs from her work station after the third time Wonder Girl asked).

She's gotten to spend ages hearing about all of the wild Kid Flash stories, and the quieter ones from a few senior team members, who could never finish those same stories without getting upset. Is it so wrong to want to meet him? (She can understand why though, and doesn't want to bother him if he's not up to it, but what if they hustle him away during the dead of night and she misses her chance? Talk about a major bummer.)

* * *

(May 8, 2016 2:30 PM)

Dick proves to be a shameless, horrific liar. Wally can forgive this due to the person left in charge to guard him.

"Hug?" Wally opens up his arms expectantly.

Batgirl, perched on the edge of the bed with her feet resting on a chair, doesn't look up from the hologram files of her computer, just reaches over to smack him in the leg.

God, has he missed this. (And considering it's been two years, she did too, even if she won't admit it).

"And yet again I am in awe of your bedside manner."

"As you should be. I'm giving up sleep for you.

"Aww, won't Wooby the teddy-bear miss you?" (_Please, please still have it. It may be the only piece of blackmail me and Dick have to keep you from killing us when we piss you off._)

"I'm going to pretend that was the pain medicine. Or else I might impale you with a batarang." Batgirl gives her best smirk and closes her computer files, and turns to look at him, "Hello."

"Do I get my hug now?"

Batgirl doesn't dignify that with a response, just nudges one of his legs out of her way.

"Where are new and old Robins anyway?"

"We call them Big R and Little R."

"Really?"

"No. At least I have your gullibility to fall back on. Oh memories."

The 'Babs' that passes his lips comes out to be more of a whine than he expected, "Two year displacement, remember?"

She frowns and tilts her head in apology, "Robin, new-one for you, is training with Beast Boy. Expect both of them to magically find their way in here despite Superboy guarding the hallway. Old-Robin goes by Nightwing now. There's a story there that you have to ask him, but if he's being moody, I'll tell you later. He went to get your uncle, and possibly other relatives, too soon to tell."

"How bad was it, Babs?" Batgirl sighs and pulls down her mask, shaking her hair out of her face.

"How would you have taken it?" Babs is tense and uncomfortable, one of the few looks that she can't make her own.

"I don't know." And that is true; he and Dick had been a package deal for ages, in synch in and out of battle. He can't image life without his best friend, without the constant knowledge of support and security, a key member in his second type family (and his first; he and Uncle Barry are the only two in both).

"Robin helped him the most, gave him something to pour all of his frustrations and feelings on by being an older brother. And our little birdy is a lot like him; more serious and less confident, but he has something special. You're going to love him almost as much as you do me," Barbara ends on a light note.

"Is he officially on the Team?"

"Yeah, although Gotham takes priority. There have been a few additions since you left, and a few who left. Beast Boy called dibs on introducing you, although the blonde girl you kept seeing at random intervals? She's Wonder Girl and has been more or less warned within an inch of her life to leave you alone to sleep."

"Aqualad?"

Batgirl won't meet his eyes, and Wally's terrified of the answer.

"Is he dead?"

"No. He's just no longer with us. Talk to Nightwing." That's the end of that.

"Artemis?" (_Please, please, please, please be okay. Be good news_.)

"She was here earlier and helped drag you in. Her mom called her back around 2:00 AM; she still gets nervous, even though she's in college and has been doing this for ages (_Wally got along well with Paula Crock, but one of the only criticisms he could have ever leveled at her was being too overprotective, but he couldn't blame her._) More importantly, and you didn't hear this, AT ALL, she's gone to drag Red Arrow in."

"Really?" Sweet..."Wait! Did they find the 'technically' original Speedy while I was fake dead?"

Barbara looks him in the eyes and responds, flatly, "Yes, but that's all I'm telling you. It's going to upset you, and honestly, the 'big guy' and your fellow original teammates have kept it under wraps, even from me." Wonderful.

"Is Red Arrow alright though?"

"He's off on his own and doing his best impersonation of a powder keg, but Dick usually has an idea of where he is. If things go to hell, he's there." (This might be one of the most upsetting pieces of news, besides the whole, 'hey, say goodbye to two years of your life' issue. Batgirl only knowing the details are ugly is one thing, but not being able to even access the information is another. And he knows Roy, well, clone-Roy, knows his guilt and his reasons; he won't settle over anything but the best possible fate for biological-Roy).

It will, at least, be nice to not be the most messed up one in the room.

* * *

_(May 8, 2016 2:00 PM)_

_Dick had spent a large number of evenings happily sitting in this very seat at the Allen household. After awhile, it became another home to him, just like it had Wally. He'd gotten to know where dishes were and had been often roped into putting away groceries, or at least he'd admirably done his job of preventing Wally from devouring the various sweets._

_Even after Wally died (_fake-died_), Dick had been welcome into the Allen home, been able to mourn without eyes on him constantly. He'd made a point to remember them on birthdays and major holidays, even if he couldn't find a way to see them. In return, he always had phone calls and letters accompanied by books or baked goods._

_So, it wasn't to great shock that Iris West-Allen took one look at him and dragged him to the kitchen, more or less shoving him into a chair as she continued to make sandwiches. The baby monitor remained quiet on the counter. _

_"Is Barry home?" Dick needed him to be there too; for once he had good news. And besides, the Flash had someone only he could take back._

_"He's in the den; go get him while I finish up. No mayo, right?"_

_"Thanks Iris."_

_Barry seemed thrilled to see him at least, happily putting down his police reports and following him to the table, pausing briefly to kiss his wife and make sure the baby monitor was turned up, an act that caused Iris to throw a dish towel at his head._

_Dick broke the news to them as soon as they sat down._

_"Wally's alive." He should have been less surprised that it was Barry who fell out of his seat, not Iris, who had a death grip on the table._

_"What?" in unison even after all these years._

_"I led the team in a mission yesterday against a Cadmus lab-the same group responsible for Superboy. Long story short, we found Wally being kept in stasis and brought him back to Mount Justice. We performed countless tests and psych evaluations to check for him being a clone, but he's not. He's the actual Wally, and he, until a few hours ago, had no idea that it was even 2016. I was ready to call you last night, but we wanted to make sure it was actually him. And I know you need time, but he wants to see you. Both of you." Iris and Barry remained silent the entire explanation, but it was Iris who recovered fastest, "Barry, suit up. I'll stay here with the baby until you come back." Barry looked ready to protest for a minute, but left after another silent conversation with his wife, who he kissed briefly before yanking Dick out of his chair, hugging him._

_"This, this is why we keep telling you you're a part of this family, too." And with that he was off. Iris grabbed him next, kissing him on the cheek and telling him, "Take care of him until I get there, okay? And don't think for a minute that I didn't know you wanted this as much as we did."_

_She let him go a second later, but still kept a hand on his arm, "Did you tell his parents yet?"_

_Dick shook his head, "I needed you guys to see him first." They were the only two who would possibly understand the need to have Wally identified, have his faithful belief be validated (and in a way, he just had)._

_The look Iris sent his way, just as her husband materialized out of nowhere, said everything._

_"Before we go, do you need to park your bike in the garage? It's going to rain." Fatherhood and uncle-hood has been a natural fit for Barry._

_Dick shook his head, "I took a cab from the nearest zeta tube. Figured I could stay with the baby while you both went to see him."_

_For the third time in as many minutes, an Allen hugged him._

_He didn't mind._

* * *

(May 8, 2016 4:30 PM)

"They're not letting me out any time soon, are they?" Wally sighs, for what feels like the hundredth time.

"Nope," Babs replies cheerfully, throwing a card proudly showcasing a nine on top of his five, effectively kicking his ass in War (_Even in a game of chance, Barbara Gordon is the Queen of Hearts. Say what you will Dick, I'm clever, damn it_). She ignores his whine as she puts her cowl back on and smiles at his confused look.

"Can I at least get out of bed to get dinner?" It is a testament to Barbara's love of him that she only throws one card at his head, not her towering pile of them. "The word lock-down means what to you? You can wait fifteen minutes for it to come. If you're good, I'll let Dick and Superboy spring you tomorrow."

"Really?" His tone is not hopeful.

"If you were bad, and I wasn't in the room, you realize you could leave whenever, right?" The women in his life were almost obnoxiously perfect.

"Don't encourage him Batgirl; it's going to be impossible to keep an eye on him as soon as he's out of bed," a voice calls out from the door-way.

Batgirl gracefully slips of the bed and pats his arm; Wally doesn't notice, barely functioning besides uttering the words, "Uncle Barry! Aunt Iris!"

Aunt Iris, despite not having the super speed, is lighting fast and hugging him before Barry has even moved from the doorway, seemingly frozen in place.

Wally holds her just as tightly, and pretends, just for a moment, that the time jump didn't happen. He opens his eyes as his uncle settles next to them, sandwiching Wally between two hugs. While it's the greatest feeling in the world, Wally can't help but ruin it by reminding them that he needs to breathe. Both let go, but don't stop touching him, Aunt Iris holding his right hand and Uncle Barry his left. Wally looks at them, sees how Aunt Iris is still gorgeous, but with a rounder face and a shorter haircut. Uncle Barry looks the same as always, except for a new, tiny scar the size of a dime located below his chin, on the left side.

Every single part of him hates the fact he wasn't around to see when that happened.

Aunt Iris, keeping up the theme of him being surrounded by wonderful women, kisses his forehead and holds him close, almost like she knows about the thoughts and wants to chase them away. Uncle Barry, Wally notices for the first time, is teary eyed, and goes to hug them both again, ruffling Wally's hair like he did when he was younger and had a nightmare.

Neither of them say a word, and, although Wally has found the silence of today stifling, in this case, it is comforting and familiar.

"Can I go home soon?" Aunt Iris's grip on his hand tightens, and he feels his uncle nod.

_(And while it will take them three days, and Aunt Iris more or less ignoring Batman completely, Wally eventually finds himself in the bedroom they had made for him years ago, with Dick and Superboy camping out on the ground, precious feet away.)_

* * *

And so concludes another 6000 words. I remember when I was a writer first starting out and could barely handle 1000 words. That sure changed!

I now want to make a story of different instances where "Superboy is a teddy bear of only moderate rage issues when it comes to younger heroes." Well, now I have something to do when this is over.

The three days it takes Wally it get "home" will be covered next chapter and include him learning what the hell happened when he died, including Aqualad, Tula, etc. And I'm going to have to let Wonder Girl meet him now. Roy and Artemis will be making their appearances as well (_he's going to be in the episode in less than three days, and I feel we'll get a mention of Artemis or an idea of the fate of technically-real Roy, so that's why they're not here now and why their fates were so vague; I have to do enough guess work with the team roster, might as well make those two hot-heads easy to write_). The lack of his parents will also be explained.

Wooby the Bear is trademark Bruce Timm, of _Batman: The Animated Series_ fame; the episode introducing Batgirl on his show was playing in the background when I wrote this, and I thought, "She has a bear named Wooby. I must do something with this."

Also, I have so many feelings for the potential spoilers, I don't think my heart will survive. If what they say about Roy, Artemis, and Wally is true, I may explode into something other than rainbows and sunshine. Don't be (spoiler) or (spoiler). My life. This show. Must find someone to vent and hypothesis with.

**Important Note**: (**that's right, it's important enough to be bolded**). The majority of the next chapter is going to be about the Team and include a hell of a lot of characters that may or may not end up on the show, although all of the one's I'm planning for at least have plausible reason to be there (whether it be a piece of artwork in a future episode, previous appearance before the time jump, or a spoiler about half the internet knows about). **Spoilers:** Due to Blue Beetle's designation number B22, it is safe to assume there is AT LEAST 22 members of the Team. Besides all teammates previously mentioned, (the original 9, plus the new members Blue Beetle, Robin II, Aquagirl, Wonder Girl, Beast Boy, Bumble Bee, Batgirl, Lagoon Boy, and I'm assuming Mal counts as well, bringing the total up to 18), there are four missing. Its safe to presume Tempest is one of the missing, and most likely Impulse (but if he becomes a part of this, its going to be as B23).

That's two to three characters I need to decide on from the long list of sidekicks, including Static, Secret, Arrowette (all surprisingly plausible given the rumors) and Flamebird, who was already mentioned as Bette Kane. If you have any opinions on these potential characters, at all, feel free to mention so in a review or PM me.

As always, have a lovely day.


	3. We're Close and Then We Run

**Title: We Were Once Perfect (3/?)**

**Warnings**: Potential spoilers for entire series and future episodes (yay head-canon ideas and guesswork!) Oh, and character death, both true and assumed.

WALLY IS BACK AND IT IS A GLORIOUS THING.

Oh! And Roy and Artemis too. I had to watch the episode twice to actually care about the plot; my first viewing was spent resenting time Wally wasn't on the screen. And damn, I can still hear the shrieks from everyone losing their minds over Spitfire, who are freaking adorable and they had a dog. (I was also distracted by the fact they live where Sam and Jess had from _Supernatural_). I need to see if I accidentally made them break-up in this. And I can now better write Blue Beetle for next chapter. And Lian Harper! Woo woo! On to next week!

_**Note: I LOVE YOU! Whoever you are, I love you (you reader, reviewer, list adder, etc). **__I go off my computer for not even a day and I come back to more reviews than some of my other stories that have been completed for years (although I did write for dead fandoms). Anyway, I love you. So much. So this is dedicated to you (twice if you're Ally Marton for giving me the prompt). I wrote like 3000 words before the episode, even though I swore to myself I wouldn't, because you guys are amazing. And then it took me about another 2000 words just to get to an actual plot. These things just keep getting longer and longer; you have no idea what they look like before I cut things out and edit. You're reviews and kind messages** inspire** me though, so I can't help it.  
_

_In response to anon reviews: ZS-keep being zealous, I appreciate it. I can only hope you love the happy bits of this chapter and the next even more. And oh god, the side switch, well, read on and get ready to feel crushed at Wally's sake. Kind of. The emotions are going to come out two-fold with Roy next chapter.  
_

_Once again, this is based off the wonderful __**Ally Marton**__'s prompt: Wally supposedly dies in a mission, but somehow he comes back to the team years later, as Wally, not some Cadmus clone or traitor. How does the team (both old and new) react? The things she definitely wanted were the team actually thinking Wally had been dead for years and them happily going mental getting him back. I took that basic prompt and further elaborated to make it a story of Wally (__and technically us with this time skip__) coming to terms with everything that changed. And everyone is going to appear sooner or later in this story._

_And yet again, I hope I delivered, and I hope you all enjoy this as much as I did writing it._

_Title taken from the Automatic Loveletter song, Hush. Further musical influence comes from The Fray's Where The Story Ends and Coming Home by Diddy Dirty Money featuring Skylar Grey.  
_

_Remembers, reviews are love. Check end of story for about a billion more__** notes.**_

**Summary**: 2016 spoilers. After two years, Wally faces a long road back home. Fortunately, the Team is there to get him up to speed. Or, where Wally corrupts new members, Nightwing snarks, the new generation stalks, and Batgirl's the biggest BAMF of all.

* * *

(May 8, 2016 5:00 PM)

A loud chirp from Aunt Iris's phone catches Wally's attention, even though she's ignoring it. (Considering her job more or less forces her to live on it, Wally feels extra loved.). A follow up noise, however, is acknowledged with a sigh that eventually turns into a laugh as she texts the person back. At Barry and Wally's gazes, she elaborates, "Dick and Dawn; she's all settled with her new toy."

Barry rolls his eyes and grins, muttering about her being spoiled enough.

"Who's Dawn and why did Dick get her a new toy? Did you guys get a dog?" (Wally will later cheerfully admit to Dick his first thought had been 'How can I make this dog cooler than the Bat Hound?' "For the last time, we aren't actually letting Ace out to fight crime!")

"Oh, honey." Aunt Iris has the NEWS face, one where she's not sure how well it will go over, but, for the sake of professionalism, she's willing to take the risk.

"We had a baby girl two months ago. That's Dawn," Barry answers for her, concern edging out the parental affection and pride Wally could still detect.

Wally spends three full seconds absorbing the news before frantically badgering for "Pictures! Phone! Now! This is the greatest thing in the history of ever! Everyone off my bed, I'm leaving to meet this kid."

Uncle Barry moves off the bed, although Aunt Iris doesn't, grabbing her phone out of her purse to show Wally an image of the two of them with Dawn.

Wally is in love. Dawn obviously takes after her mother in looks and a bright red patch of hair, but she has her father's complexion and lighter green eyes. He doesn't look either relative in the eye until he's sure his are clear and no longer glossy. The baby sparks an automatic, fierce love and protective instinct, but, at the same time, he wasn't there while Aunt Iris was pregnant, or at the hospital frantically waiting with Uncle Barry and the rest of the family. (_That's_ _it, no more time is being wasted_.)

"Alright, they're not going to let me out of here looking like this," Wally gestures down to the hospital gown (_seriously?)_ that they put him in, "so can one of you get me pants? Cause I wasn't kidding. Gimme this kid." (Wally would love to know how he can make this clearer. Come on!)

Uncle Barry looks ready to speed out before Aunt Iris brings up the question, "Are you even allowed out?" They suddenly look grim, for the first time since they saw him.

"Um, sure? As long as we don't tell Batman and get Dick out of the house before I get there." The joke falls flat, but if Uncle Barry couldn't take on Batman, Aunt Iris would. Worst case scenario they'd most likely get Uncle Hal involved (_I wonder how he's doing?)._

"We'll talk to him, sweetheart, and get this taken care of," Aunt Iris replies, brushing his hair out of the way before kissing him on the forehead.

'We'll spring you out of here soon, I promise," Uncle Barry ruffles the same hair Aunt Iris had just fixed.

"Soon for me, or soon for you? Last time I checked those were two very different things," Wally doesn't bother giving examples of all the times he has been late due to his uncle, but the message gets across the same.

"At the very least, we can have Dick zeta-beam her here with him, right?"

Uncle and nephew, in unison, begin frantically shouting "No!" as they make wild gestures.

"What if she doesn't come back in all of her pieces?"

"Have they ever done zeta-beam testing on kids?"

"Honey, you have no idea how many times we got displaced when those things were starting out."

"Remember how paranoid he was to let me use them the first time as Kid Flash? I was a teenager then, at least, and in need of medical help. A baby is completely different!"

Aunt Iris, in a case of selective hearing, already has her phone out. Uncle Barry swipes it and throws it to Wally, who Iris wouldn't actually abuse in his condition. They hope.

The look she sends their way is not impressed, at all. She relents, however, and offers to stay with Wally while Barry goes to get Dawn. Again, she is shot down.

"Would security even let her through?"

"Do you have any idea how unsafe this place is for a baby? I'm a teenager and keep getting broken!"

"What if I drop her?"

"What if he drops her?"

They continue on like that for about five more minutes, until Dick walks through the doorway, holding a peaceful two month old in his arms, with a bright red baby bag slung across his shoulder and a familiar backpack on top of that.

"Or that could happen," Uncle Barry concludes, ignoring the serene look his wife sends him.

"Can I hold her?" His aunt and uncle look at him, but, before they can respond, Dick's already placing her in his arms.

Is it possible to fall in love with the same person twice? Because he just has, and, as he adjusts the little pink hat to match the rest of her attire, he vows to both spoil her rotten and kill anyone for her.

Even when she starts squirming in his arms and freaking him out, he still loves her. Aunt Iris, because she's amazing, and paying more attention to him, takes her daughter before Wally can panic further and hate himself for possibly ruining her.

Dick and Uncle Barry are too busy talking in the corner of the room, most likely about his future escape attempt.

For the first time since being told of his displacement, Wally feels right, like this is where he should be, regardless of any issues, in a room with his favorite relatives, his best friend, and an extremely comfortable bed.

He closes his eyes for only a minute.

* * *

(May 8, 2016 10:00 PM)

Dick knows when Wally is awake, even if he refuses to acknowledge it himself until he feel's he's taken as much time as possible to rest before having to get ready. Dick also knows that hitting the plate and bowl on the meal tray is a good first attempt to waking Wally up (when tense or about to go on a mission, he barely sleeps, and is restless if he even does. When in a safe environment, it is easier to wake the dead than Wally.)

It works, like it should have, especially when taking into consideration the large gap between meals. It worries Dick to see Wally not really eating all day, pushing food around sluggishly if he even gets it; he'll make jokes about eating in front of other people but doesn't really pay attention to it when Dick, Superboy, and a few others are in the room. Dick wasn't the only one to notice, as Babs, on her way back to Gotham, mentioned Wally talked of food, but not how he used to. He wasn't sure whether she was more insulted he tried it with _her_, or concerned.

Wally blinks into reality and bolts up, frantically looking around the room before settling on Dick, still clad in his outfit from hours ago, just sans sunglasses and leather jacket.

"A little over four hours," Dick tells him before Wally can ask, "They left around five when we agreed it would be better for you to sleep." He follows up by placing the tray on Wally's lap, who doesn't do as expected, instead happily chomping on the lukewarm chicken, liberally adding gravy.

"Did you guys agree on anything else?" One day Wally will understand subtlety. That day is not today. Dick sighs and tries to fight the smile tugging at his lips, but Wally's answering grin and purposely widened eyes do little to make it easy.

"Bruce will be around tomorrow, and we'll figure it out then." Dick is not looking forward to that confrontation (his thoughts of possibly hiding in the rafters give him little comfort; Bruce would know he'd never leave Wally to him willingly).

"Daddy-Bats likes me though," Wally whines. And that, unsurprisingly, is true, although Dick's known that for forever, even if it took Wally about an extra year and a half to clue in. If it had been Aquagirl instead of Wally, Bruce would most likely have a constant Justice League presence in the room, monitoring, and allow no guests. Even if the test proved it to be Tula, that wouldn't be enough for Bruce, who barely knew her and didn't trust her (the whole Kaldur issue would not help).

Wally is different though, has been for years, ever since he took off his sunglasses, stuck out his hand, and introduced himself as Dick Grayson (and Batman knew he had from the start; again, subtlety and Wally were not on the same page). Bruce is still overly cautious when it comes to Wally and keeping him in Mount Justice, but because he knows this will crush Dick if it goes horribly. And again, a tiny part of Bruce just genuinely likes Wally, even if he'd never admit it out-loud.

That might make Wally getting out that much harder. Distrust is one thing, but, when it came to his adoptive father, protective instincts of both Dick, and to a lesser extent Wally, meant there would be hell to get Wally out from his watch.

But never let it be said Dick Grayson didn't learn his lessons well. He had a plan.

While Dick has been thinking ("_You going quiet and tuning us all out? It's called going to your belfry." "I'm just shocked you know the meaning of it." "Dude!"_), Wally has been finishing his dinner, swallowing his pills, and apparently talking to him.

"So my cousin/pseudo-sister is adorable."

"She is; I thought Bruce would never look at me the same after all the time I spent cooing at and about her."

"Aww, Dick, you would make a very pretty mommy."

Dick feels no guilt whipping his leather jacket at Wally's legs. He also feels no guilt over smirking at the expression of pain Wally uttered.

"What about my parents? I know you've kept tabs on them." It's a testament to how in-synch they are, even after a two year gap, that Dick knows exactly what Wally wants to hear him say and what he actually expects to be true.

Rudy and Mary West weren't abusive parents, or even bad. In fact, they used to handle Wally's hero-ing rather well. During his junior year of high school they had a major falling out over what Wally would do with his life (retire by college and settle down if they had their way) and how increasingly upset they got when he came home injured. They weren't fit for the superhero lifestyle, nor had they even wanted it, but Wally gave them no choice when he decided to follow in his uncle's footsteps. Wally began spending increasing amounts of time at the West-Allen household, and that had soothed some of the hurt feelings they had over Wally's injuries and how he wanted to live his life (it also helped that they wouldn't see some of the more annoying, but not life threatening, injuries over the course of the two or three days Wally would stay away from home, speed healing working like a charm).

What had bothered Dick the most, and Wally to a very certain degree, was the fact Wally was not necessarily opposed to retiring, at least for a few years when he was going to school. It was the demand and the expectation of never going back that hurt.

During Wally's Christmas break off school in his senior year, he was injured to the point of hospitalization, even with his healing. As a last ditch effort to protect him, and for Rudy to take a better job offer, they moved to Portland. Wally flat out refused to go with his parents during his senior year and begged to remain with his aunt and uncle, swearing to cut back on the hero-ing, even though they'd be in Portland and unable to tell. After two weeks of Wally super-speeding to his old high school (and Dick is immensely proud of hacking the records to prevent his transfer) they relented. Things were still tense when Wally died, but more on his side because they were happy enough he retired, even if he stayed with Iris and Barry in Central City to go to college there.

Dick doesn't have the heart to tell him about the ugly (and that's coming from a Gotham Boy) confrontation between the two families, West and Allen, when he died. Their communication was still rocky, even after the birth of Dawn. The Wests still lived in Portland and had at least stuck together through burying their son; the one thing the two sets of families could agree on was the fact Wally would prefer to be buried in his home city.

"We haven't told them yet, actually. They're on a cruise." Wally's relief is palpable. He misses his parents and still loves them, but it had, when he died, gotten to a point that the distance between them was not just miles but also emotions. He's going to need a few more days before having to face that.

"Well, that's one thing off the emotional checklist. Babs, however, told me there are quite a few stories I need to be told. You want to start with Roy or Aqualad? Or why you're Nghtwing and there's a new Robin? Or we can go in on how well you accepted me dying."

"Fake-dying," Dick interrupts before Wally can continue.

"Alright then, you're the first order of business." Wally's got his version of Dick's stare (and honestly, how many of their mannerisms have been adapted from one to the other).

"You really want to do this now?" Wally's slowly beginning to slur his words, a combination of losing slight control of his powers and the pills. If Dick's lucky, Wally will pass out before needing to finish this conversation.

Wally's "Yup." and second stare prove how Dick is not lucky (_except for Wally being alive_).

"What did she tell you?" At the very least, the Roy and Kaldur conversation can wait till morning; it would give him more time to drag Superboy away from his guard position at the door to help explain everything as well.

"Nothing. Except for, oh yeah, you disappeared for a week and Batman found you drunkenly screaming at my grave!" Dick winces from Wally's increasingly loud tone, not the memory it brings up.

"Can you just pass out now?"

"Coward." Dick bites the inside of his mouth to prevent his automatic response to that. (_True, true, true, so very true_).

But he and Wally, as a rule, do not lie to each other. Despite the fact sometimes they'd really like to.

"I just wanted you to come home. I'd spend days determining if it was possible for you to be alive, that the evidence could be false and somehow you'd return and we'd all be alright. I didn't want to accept otherwise."

"Except you eventually did," Wally states, matter-of-factly. There's no judgement in his tone; if anything he looks concerned, ready to deal with the damage left.

"Kind of."

"Dick."

"I left the Team for awhile. Helped train Robin. Turned into Nightwing."

"And how did that happen exactly? I miss the cape, but if it took your 'crazy' laugh, I'll accept it." Dick purposefully ignores the jab.

"A combination of growing up and not being the Robin I had been before, not with you gone. Besides, Robin needed it more than I did."

Wally exhales, loudly. "We're not actually going to talk about this, are we? You're just going to keep deflecting, give me the basics and tell me that they're enough."

"That's not what I was doing."

"Yes, it was. Dick, you're right when you say you know me, but there are things even you must have forgotten after two years. I haven't changed at all from when we last met, but you have. And sure, part of that is because I wasn't there, but not all of it. I'm going to figure out eventually how you're different, the good and _really_ not-so-good, but I'd appreciate some help here."

Richard Grayson is not broken, isn't shattered. But he has been.

"Wally, you've been back for literally a day. It's been one of the greatest days of my life, but one of the longest as well. I can't talk about this yet, alright? I will one day, but not now."

"It feels longer than a day." The fact Wally understands him, perfectly, and chooses to focus on the easiest comment Dick made makes him want to cry. Or sleep. He really doesn't know what he wants anymore.

But he's happier than he's been in a long time, so it's a start.

"Are you guys going to stop drugging me sometime soon? Because I can barely stay awake, even with my energy."

"Another thing to ask Bruce; when they drug you, it's to make sure you actually pass out enough that they can keep monitoring your brainwaves."

"Oh joy." Wally's deadpans have only bettered with age, much to Dick's eternal chagrin (_amusement_).

"Pass out again. When you wake up I'll show you what's in your backpack."

"I knew that was mine from Aunt Iris and Uncle Barry's place!" Even with his louder tone, Wally has already settled back into the pillows, a result of the best drugs Bruce can buy.

Dick doesn't leave the room until hours later.

* * *

(May 9, 2016 7:00 AM)

Wally is not surprised to not see Dick waiting at his bedside; his current track record hasn't been amazing, and, more importantly, Dick needs his own space to regroup over what came up last night. He is, however, surprised to see Superboy gesturing angrily at the window, back to both Wally and Wolf, sleeping in the corner of the room.

"You can see him later Beast Boy. And Nightwing told you to stop shifting into the room!"

Beast Boy responds in a way that only seems to cause Superboy to threaten, "Do not make me come out there!"

"Wow, dude, when did you and Nightwing become Team Mom and Dad?"

"I am not the mom!" Superboy doesn't seem completely surprised at Wally being awake, although Wally's amused at the resigned tone tinting his protest. (_Beast Boy, please make me proud and have called them that before_.)

"Of course not. No one listens to the dad."

"That's not completely true."

"Yes it is, think of all the stupid sitcoms we've made you watch and the healthy, normal, non-Bat families we know. They all have super cool moms who are obeyed like the Word of God."

Superboy doesn't laugh, although he does smirk slightly.

"Is it a new day yet? I can't tell considering there's no sunlight and you won't let me out," Wally pointedly looks to where he suspects there's a functioning camera in the ceiling.

With the odd look Superboy sends him, he may be off on his guess.

"It is May 9, 7:00 AM, so yes."

"Hell no. I am not awake at 7:00 AM. I refuse."

"7:00 also means no one else is awake and that getting you out of here into a kitchen would be easier." Superboy is frowning, and Wally can tell its because his own protective instincts are still firmly in the isolation against everyone but core group of friends mentality. (Wally also knows how loudly Superboy has been protecting him from any potential upset or someone who could cause it. It's both sweet and frustrating in the 'I can take care of myself but if you're going to ignore that at least you're doing it for good reasons' way).

"Alright big guy, throw me my bag and let me loose on the kitchen."

There have been a lot of extreme emotions over the last day: shock, bitterness, love, relief, deep rooted anger, and comfort. What Wally feels when he finally gets out of that room, with the floors and walls of Mount Justice surrounding him is a mixture of possibly everything. His first course of action is to run, and like all times before, there is nothing to describe the feeling: colors blurring around his eyes, air hitting his face as his hair goes all over, the desire to go faster, faster, faster.

He runs around the entire cave twice before Superboy gets to the kitchen, and god, does he have questions. Again.

Because he has priorities, and Superboy and Dick are probably sharing information over everything he does, the first matter of business is to eat everything he wants (Miss Martian, bless her soul, had made sure to get possibly an entire grocery store. God, Superboy has one of the greatest girls ever).

"So, if I ask you something, are you going to tell me the truth?"

"Depends on the question." Superboy's posture more or less screams 'I'm shutting up for your own good.'

"Why do we have a memorial wall with Aquagirl's name on it? And when did we get an Aquagirl? Don't bother pushing this off, I saw the wall."

"Because she died. Tula." Superboy's direct and to the point in a way Dick wouldn't have been with him (while he's being treated with kid gloves, Dick's more concerned with any emotional problem. Superboy's part of the job was to analyze and prevent who could cause them. In hindsight, Superboy would have probably been easier to get answers out of than Batgirl).

"Tula. As in Kaldur's Tula? Garth's Tula? As in our friend Tula?" Wally is an inch away from proclaiming how that can't be right, that it's a mistake, but if she was helping out under the title Aquagirl, then there were risks he knew all too well.

"Yeah. Between you and Artemis retiring, Zatanna and Rocket to the League, and Nightwing to Gotham, we were looking for older, more responsible fighters to help with the new recruits. She switched out with Garth to get some land training a few weeks after you died. She died three months later, leading her first mission because no senior members were around to do so." Superboy's jaw tenses and he rolls his shoulders, but doesn't further elaborate.

"How, I," Wally swallows all of his words for a moment. He remembers Tula with her flaming red hair and loyalty, and the way she teased, occasional sparks of electricity springing from her fingers as she poked and nudged, usually with a graceful twirl. Garth and Kaldur were right to love her.

"Are they alright?"

It is a sign to how Superboy has grown, not just in the past two years, but over the last six, that no elaboration is needed. In a different situation Wally would be over-dramatic and make a point to verbalize the observation. Yet another thing that changed while he slept away.

"Garth is trying. He comes up, sometimes, and he's trying to be positive," Superboy replies, somewhat sounding puzzled. "It's not that he isn't upset, but that he wants to accept it."

Wally makes a mental note to make sure Superboy understands that not all losses need to be handled in the extreme measures the Team takes (Wally doesn't want to imagine the hell that went on when he died; it's going to be bad enough one day getting Dick's story, much less Artemis's or even his family's.)

"And Kaldur?" Wally has just opened the gates of hell, at least by the utterly darkened expression on Superboy's face and the way he subconsciously shifts his weight into a battle stance.

"We're not talking about it," Superboy snaps.

"Are you kidding me?" Wally feels his incredulous tone is deserved, even with the look Superboy is sending him.

"I won't talk about him. Ask Nightwing. Or M'gann. I refuse." (It isn't healthy, but Superboy, somewhere along the line, ended up picking up on the idea that certain topics that made him angry should never be brought up, although his rule for this is whether or not he automatically wanted to resort to violence).

Wally's teeth are on edge when he badgers, "C'mon! I have a right to know."

"You weren't here, so don't worry about it! We've got it taken care of."

"I didn't choose that!"

"Drop it Kid; it's for your own good." (That phrase is going to be the bane of Wally's existence, he can feel it.)

"Fine, I'll just have Miss M tell me."

"Good luck prying her away from L'gann."

"Why would she be with the fish guy?" Wally waves goodbye to whatever control he had on the conversation with that question.

"Because she's dating him!"

"What." Wally purposefully makes that a statement, because there's obviously been some confusion and Superboy is now crazy (_Next on my to-do list, find one of my friend's who isn't insane...who does that leave?_)

"We broke up..." All the screaming back and forth has been brought down to a dull roar, especially with Superboy looking at him like he's liable to run off (_Oh wait..._).

He hits the kitchen island counter and shouts, "I hate the future!"

Superboy raises the coffee cup he had grabbed earlier, "Welcome to the club."

"What happened?"

He shrugs and looks away, "She did something that left me no choice but to end things."

"And yet another thing kept from me. For my own good?"

"Yes!" And Superboy looks so earnest, obviously believes it to the point of no return.

"Look, I'm going to go run around for awhile, work this off, and we'll talk later when Rob-Nightwing comes back."

All Superboy can do is watch his retreating back.

* * *

(Voice mails left to various Team members, from 8:00 AM to 9:00 PM)

**_Hey, it's Dick. Sorry I can't come to the phone, but leave your number and I'll get back to you, thanks._**

Dick. Call me back. We need to discuss your best friend. (From Bruce, sent at 8:56 AM)

Did it beep yet? Not now Wolf! Look, Wally's gone, has been for hours, I think. Call me when you get this. (From Conner, sent at 11:13 AM)

How the hell did you lose him? He's supposed to be on lock down! Look, if he isn't found soon, I'm off the Red Arrow hunt and hitting someone. I wonder who. (From Artemis, sent at 12:12 PM)

Hey, it's Megan. Just letting you know I've scanned the Cave and within five miles, but he's not here. I'll keep you posted. (From Megan, sent at 12:45 PM)

Dick, R and I have been checking through satellites, but he's not wearing anything with a tracer or that can connect to a zeta beam; yeah, Rocket, we tried that. I know you're at the Cave, but I think you're just going to have to wait for him. Sorry. Let me know when he comes home, alright? We're worried too. (From Zatanna, sent at 4:38 PM)

Missed Call, no message left from: Barry Allen, Iris Allen-West, Tim

**_I'm either avoiding your calls or just can't pick up my phone, so leave a message and hope I get back to you._**

Artemis, have you seen Wally by any chance? He may have left, and we didn't want to sic Dick on him if he's with you, so call me? And are we still on for next Friday? (From Megan, sent at 10:45 AM)

Hey girl, Coach was wondering where you were, so I told him you were getting sick. It's not like you to miss archery practice, so let me know if you need anything. Feel better hon! (From Cissie, sent at 3:32 PM)

It's Dinah; no sign of him yet, but he'll likely be back at the Cave soon. How's the hunt for Roy going? I'll call later tonight. (From Dinah, sent at 7:01 PM)

He's back. See you soon. Reports have Red Arrow sighting fifty miles from Metropolis. (From Dick, sent at 9:00 PM).

_**Hey, it's Su, uh, Conner, Conner Kent. You know what to do, right?** _

What happened? (From Dick, sent at 11:15)

Let me tell you about my day. I came in at 1:00 AM after my Roy search, slept for five hours, then got to get ready and go fail one of my finals. I then spent my morning going through my voice mail and finding out Wally is gone. What the hell happened? (From Artemis, sent at 1:00 PM)

Look, I'm sorry for before, I know it's not your fault. He's just being an idiot and running around. He always felt better after doing so. He never does it during the night, so call me if he doesn't get back later, alright? I'll try and head over soon, but my mom will kill me if I miss my finals and lose my scholarships. If you get him, hit him for me. Then hug him. Maybe. (From Artemis, sent at 3:30 PM).

Robin reporting in; no sign of him in North America. Impossible to trace him. I'll have gamma team inform of any changes. (From RESTRICTED NUMBER, sent at 5:15 PM).

* * *

Wally lies, uses the override codes Dick had set up for him years ago, and runs. For hours, stops only when he's tired or hungry, in Texas, in Austria, in a really cold part of Canada. There have been changes through the world, but, when he's running through in a blur of lights and sounds, there is no difference from what he experienced a little less than a decade ago, when he first decided to follow Uncle Barry till the ends of the earth. There are so many pieces of his heart scattered through the globe, with his family, with Artemis, Dick, every member of the team really, and they make up this wonderful idea of home, the place he's always willing to run towards and stop at when he gets there. But sometimes it isn't enough for him, and he has to run, let everything blur together until the details no longer matter and he can think rationally again, face the problems of that other home.

The sun has already set by the time he exhaustedly stumbles into Mount Justice, entering through an upper part of the cave to avoid most of the sensors, inputs the code to avoid the rest. Wally knows Dick, Superboy, and probably a few members of the Justice League, are waiting for him somewhere. But, as he enters the kitchen for a second time and drinks more water than he ever did before, if they honestly wanted to ambush him, they would be waiting in the kitchen. Wally sighs and makes a few sandwiches, inhaling more than tasting, and feeling better than before.

His legs are attacked by a green money, that quickly scurries up onto a counter, morphing into Beast Boy, who just beams at Wally and hugs him.

"I felt I should get that out of the way. Because Nightwing is going to kill you." Beast Boy's grin, if anything, increases. "I'll visit you in your holding cell after he brings you back to life."

Wally finds himself laughing at his supposed danger, and pulls on Beast Boy's tail.

"That would require getting through Mom and Dad. Don't think I didn't hear that arguement this morning."

"Oh my god! I call them that too! They're worse than sis sometimes, and she's well, sis."

"Speaking of your sister, sorry to hear about her and Superboy." If this goes according to plan, Wally will be impressed, even with himself.

"Don't get me started; I've spent FOREVER trying to get them back together. Lagoon Boy's annoying. He tries to fight Nightwing though, so I get to see him get beat up enough. Blue Beetle and I take bets on how long it'll take. Have you met him yet? He's cool. And Wonder Girl too!"

Beast Boy, despite his inherited traits from M'gann, somehow got his mouth, and Wally usually couldn't be more thrilled, but he's on borrowed time (_either Superboy's patience will wear out and he'll come for me or I'll find my bed Bat infested_).

"What happened anyway?'

Beast Boy deflates, "No one tells me anything. He broke up with her after a mission; that's all I got."

Damn. Try two. "At least you know what happened with Aqualad."

He snorts, "Well duh! Former leader going evil? It's required knowledge."

Former leader going evil.

FORMER leader going EVIL.

FORMER LEADER GOING EVIL.

He's going to kill Dick. And Superboy. (He doesn't dare think about killing Babs, but he's ignoring her, effective immediately and until she threatens him to knock it off).

Wally hopes his voice doesn't sound as strangled to BB's ears as it does his own, "I still can't believe it."

Beast Boy sighs and pats his arm, "No one believed Nightwing at first, either. But he became Black Manta and tried to kill us. Not like we could ignore it."

Wally nods in agreement (_Holy Crap! Is this real? Kaldur? No no no no no no no no._)

"Hey, I'm going to face the firing squad. I'll see you in the morning, alright? Catch me up to speed then?"

Beast Boy nods eagerly and hugs Wally once more before zooming out with a final call of, "Good luck with the parents!"

Well, at least there's one person if the Cave Wally doesn't want to hit.

* * *

(May 9, 2016 10:00 PM)

Wally's extremely tempted to just go to bed, sleep the day off, and get into the inevitable screaming match in the morning. So of course the choice is no longer his as he spots Superboy and Nightwing waiting in his hospital room, Wolf once again asleep in the corner (_No support_).

"Hi guys!" Wally greets them cheerfully, adds a wave for good measure. "How were your days?"

"Where were you?" Superboy looks frazzled, although Dick not looking at him at all in the more noticeable reaction.

"Went out for a run, lovely weather in France. You know, today's been a real eye-opener for me."

"How so?" The tension Superboy's voice brings is palpable.

"Oh well, got to see how the countries changed, back to my old behaviors. And, oh yeah, found out KALDUR WENT EVIL!" Wally knows his voice is most likely carrying out of the Cave, but he doesn't care, at all.

Superboy's fist slams into the door, and he stalks out for what will become five minutes.

Dick still doesn't acknowledge him. Fine.

Upon Superboy's return, Dick is all concern and questions, "You feeling better? I can handle it without you if you want."

"How did you find out?" Superboy address the question to Wally, while shaking his head at Dick.

"A little birdy told me."

Dick elaborates for Superboy, "A green one. Not his fault."

"Were you ever going to tell me?"

"Of course we were!"

"When?"

"Later! When you were back for longer than two damn days." Superboy is meeting his gaze straight on.

"I had a right to know! He's my friend."

"He _was_ your friend. He's tried to kill us."

"It was because of Tula, wasn't it?"

Superboy nods and adds, "His father is biologically the Black Manta. It was kept from him." With Superboy's own issues, that might be the one this he doesn't begrudge Aqualad as much.

"Are you sure there isn't another angle at play?"

"We're sure. Nightwing had been the first one to figure it out."

"So I heard. Anything you wanna add, buddy?"

Silence.

Superboy sighs, "If the roles were reversed, you'd do the same."

"We don't know that, do we?" He has been robbed of all the calm of before, and everything, the guilt, shock, pure and utter pain, that comes with the idea of losing Kaldur, and of losing Tula, is tainted and exacerbated over how he found it out, how it was another thing kept from him for his own good.

"Look, if protecting you in this way means I'm wrong, I'm sorry, but I'd do it again. And once you think and accept this, you know you'd be just like me." Superboy whistles for Wolf, who sleepily trots after him, out the door.

Nightwing's still leaning against the window, and doesn't attempt to grab Superboy's vacant chair or the half of the bed Wally isn't using.

He isn't helping Wally's mood, either.

"Cat got your tongue?"

For the first time, Dick actually looks at him, and Wally can't tell what he's thinking.

"You disappeared for hours, and we, I, had no clue where you were."

"I know. I was there."

Dick snarls, "Next time you're there, why don't you remember I just got you back after two years and didn't need or even deserve what you pulled."

Wally ignores the sound of his heart beating too fast and the way his mind is shrieking "Abort! Apologize! Abort! Apologize!"

"I deserved to be lied to? I'm never going to get this place unless I know this kind of thing!"

"Did we not have this conversation last night? It's been two days Wally! We couldn't have waited a few more for you to be MEDICALLY CLEARED and talked about this calmly? Oh no, Wally West was ready to go from the start!"

"Rich coming from the resident hacker!"

"After everything that's happened, if the roles were reversed, I'd have probably just been too grateful to be back alive, with the people I love, to have done what you did."

"That's not fair!"

Dick's eyes look brighter than normal, "I didn't stop thinking about you for two years and you zipped out without a trace the day after you came back. Maybe you've forgotten, but you were taken for a reason, and the only thing running through my mind today was the fact I could have lost you again to those people, possibly for good. That's not fair."

Wally opens his mouth, but Dick continues on, "There are so many things that changed over the past two years, Wally. Me, Artemis, our Team, our mentors, the planet, we're all different, and I wanted to try and shelter you from the bad, and that's on me, alright, but I did it to make it easier on you, so you could see all the good that's happened before needing to adapt to the evil. We were going to tell you, but not here, not like this. You'll spend the next few days stalking this place, hurting over any memory of Aqualad or Aquagirl that comes up, and I wanted to spare you of that, at least."

One of the biggest weakness of his friendship with Dick had been their need to try to keep the other from harm, making the situations worse than they would have been, despite their good intentions. And yet again, the need to protect had damned them, messed everything up, because Wally's vengeful and stuck two years in the past while Dick is hurt, and silent, and just radiating distance.

Wally swallows down what might be his heart, and whispers, "I'm sorry."

Dick's tense shoulders don't give credence to his words, "Don't be. You did what you thought you had to do." (_I just broke your heart in the process._) "Take your pills; a day or two more of good brainwaves and Batman will most likely let your family spring you. Night."

For the first time since he came back, Wally finds himself alone in the hospital room.

* * *

(May 10, 2016 7:00 AM)

Dick Grayson moves from his position at the window for the first time in seven hours, just as Wally begins to stir and Beast Boy goes in.

* * *

I was extremely frightened that this chapter would end up becoming mindless fluff, especially after how it started. That sure changed. I may have slightly broken my own heart with that last part; I tried to make both sides make sense and be valid, but I'm personally siding with Dick on this one. Especially because his concerns are valid (spoiler!) I think it was important to do this, not for the sake of angst, but because Wally is going through so much that it isn't going to be easy.

Anyway, Beast Boy will be kidnapping Wally and bringing him through the new generation; Wonder Girl and Blue Beetle are going to lose it, completely. Not really sure what to do with Lagoon Boy yet, but there will be a "Neptune's Beard!" in the next chapter. Next week's episode is going to have a lot of the girls there, so I'm praying to God my characterization isn't off, but I'm most likely going to have one if not two more chapters done by that episode.

This just got way too long to try and jam in the meet and greet and happy feelings, especially with how angsty it ended. Eventually, the story is going to match the plot, I swear.

And I know I wanted to work Roy and Artemis into this, but it's already over 8000 words (this story, in the span of a week, is already becoming longer than stories I struggled on for months), so I pushed that off until the next chapter because it's still mid May and Arty's in college, so finals! Yay! They're both going to be there next chapter, but will Roy actually go into the Cave to see Wally or be the obsessive, too busy clone of anger issues we all know and worry for?

I've still got to sort the final parts of the new Team out, but I'll do that later. Feel free to send me any comments about that, though. Or a comment on anything.

As always have a lovely day.


	4. You Stop, I Start

**Title: We Were Once Perfect (4/?)**

**Warnings:** Potential spoilers for entire series and future episodes (yay head-canon ideas and guesswork!) Oh, and character death, both true and assumed.

WALLY IS BACK AND IT IS A GLORIOUS THING.

**_Note: HAVE I TOLD YOU LATELY THAT I LOVE YOU? Because I do, whoever you are (reader, reviewer, list adder, etc). _**_I get on the computer and find all of these reviews and hits and adds and I end up on the floor, a twitchy heap of love and amazement. You're all amazing and I write for you, so many words (in less than a week, this became my longest piece ever) And I never thought I'd have done so much in that one week. But you guys make me want to and again, I love you all! I've never gotten such a high amount of hits as the Sunday the last chapter came out. I want to cry because of all the love this is getting. I write it for you.  
_

_In response to anon reviews: __**ZS**__-I needed Wally because due to the comics changing, this show/universe is the only place he's at. And not this upcoming episode but the next is supposedly Flash centered, so I'm losing my mind! And Lian made my life! Feel free to keep ranting; chances are I'm just agreeing with you and shouting "Preach!" I'm glad you think Wally was spot on; and your suggestion was cute (I'm picturing it in my head right now). Wally won't get a chance to do that today, but if he ever does, I'll be giving you a shout-out. **won't be the Victim**: I'm glad you like the story and I hope you like this chapter as well.  
_

_Once again, this is based off the wonderful _**_Ally Marton_**_**'s** prompt: Wally supposedly dies in a mission, but somehow he comes back to the team years later, as Wally, not some Cadmus clone or traitor. How does the team (both old and new) react? The things she definitely wanted were the team actually thinking Wally had been dead for years and them happily going mental getting him back. I took that basic prompt and further elaborated to make it a story of Wally (__and technically us with this time skip__) coming to terms with everything that changed. And everyone is going to appear sooner or later in this story._

_And yet again, I hope I delivered, and I hope you all enjoy this as much as I did writing it._

_Title taken from the Automatic Loveletter song, Hush. Further musical influence comes from Satellite Heart by Anya Marina.  
_

_Remembers, reviews are love. Check end of story for about a billion more__** notes**._

**Summary:** 2016 spoilers. After two years, Wally faces a long road back home. Fortunately, the Team is there to get him up to speed. Or, where Wally corrupts new members, Nightwing snarks, the new generation stalks, and Batgirl's the biggest BAMF of all.

* * *

(May 10, 2016 6:45 AM)

Beast Boy hums '_Secret Agent Man_' under his breath, "Is everyone in position?"

"Si amigo, currently on high cliff point, outside the upper exit."

"Wonder Girl?"

"Ready and waiting, Beast Boy."

"Robin?"

"This is hardly the time to do this. We should cancel, especially after last night."

"Robin!"

"We're going to get caught and the ramifications of what is happening..."

"Dude, we're going to do this with or without you. Just tell them you went along to supervise."

"..."

Wonder Girl calls out, "Robin?"

"I'm in the rafters at rendezvous point."

"Alright group, time for Operation Jail Break!"

"That's the best you could come up with?" Wonder Girl asks.

"Not on me, Robin's call," is Beast Boy's quick reply.

"It was a working title. More importantly, you and Blue were the ones who wanted this, so don't bring me down with you."

"Hey, focus!"

"Oh fuck!"

"Wonder Girl. Beast Boy's thirteen, what's wrong with you?" Robin, unflappable, even berating Wonder Girl.

"Oh, and fifteen's much better, Robin?"

"Wonder Girl?" It is a sign at how badly the mission is going when the member hearing voices is the one on task.

"When did Batgirl get here?"

"That's it, we're done. Plan over."

"Robin, don't you dare. I worked way too hard to fake sick so Professor Carr wouldn't come on the day sis and Superboy had to see the League. We're liberating Wally, even with Batgirl here."

"Um, Beast Boy, it's Batgirl, how are we going to get past _her_?" Wonder Girl sounds as dismayed as he's ever heard her, which says little, actually (_they nicknamed her Sunshine for a reason_).

"We're not. Lagoon Boy is. Everyone stick to the plan, just delay it five minutes while I get to work," Beast Boy, despite being the youngest, is going to have to be the ringleader on this one, Robin the brain.

"Alright everyone, maintain radio silence until Beast Boy comes back. Robin out"

"..."

"..."

Nearly ten minutes lapse before Beast Boy responds, "Finished. I'm almost to Wally's room. Let me know when Nightwing leaves."

Thirty seconds later, "He's headed to the zeta-beams as we speak," Blue Beetle confirms.

"Alright, great, on the signal, the plan is in motion."

"What signal?" Wonder Girl asks.

"Beast Boy..." Robin groans, already worried.

"It will be obvious, don't sweat it."

* * *

(May 10, 2016 7:05 AM)

Barbara Gordon, clad in jeans, large blue framed sunglasses, and a faded Gotham University t-shirt, ignores Dick as he heads to the zeta-beam behind her, focusing more on the crossword on her tablet. Tuesdays are her day off from her internship, and although she will never be able to begrudge Dick when it comes to Wally, the loss of her day off to be a glorified babysitter is not appealing.

She's not sure whether or be more frustrated at Dick for asking or at Wally for pulling the disappearing act of 2016 and forcing her into this. (_The frantic phone calls and the panic even Bruce couldn't settle determine West's fate. Dick gets a free pass.)_

Babs smiles toothily at her partner, salutes him as he sluggishly inputs the code to Gotham, and swears to prevent any team emergency from bothering him until at least four hours of sleep. (He's Bruce's boy, and Barbara knows better than to hope for seven.)

An error message over a wrongly placed code further highlights the night and day Dick had. She redos it for him, correctly, and grabs the human wreckage's arm before he can head off.

Nightwing looks back at her. "I can't tell you to keep him here against his will," (the _If Only I Could_ goes implied silently), "but at least find out where he goes and who with. Call me if anything changes."

Batgirl nods firmly and shoos him off. Barbara avows to do no such thing. Nothing would happen with her on the job and them under her manicured thumb, not even warranting the use of a leash.

_(It's a fantastic day to monitor the camera systems. Maybe a full scale upgrade.) _

Before she can even head to the base's tech room, she hears a "Neptune's Beard!" blasting over the comm-link. (_Lagoon Boy. Of course._)

She sighs and heads in the direction of his room, leaving the systems unattended for just a few minutes.

* * *

(May 10, 2016, 7:11 AM)

"You heard it, go, go go!"

Wally jolts awake (when did he even go to sleep? He hadn't even had a chance to change from yesterday) at Beast Boy's shout and is basically pulled out of bed with BB's arms and tail tugging at his arm.

"We have to go, now. Robin, is security down?"

Wally thinks he hears an "Affirmative!" coming from the comm in Beast Boy's left ear.

"Wonder Girl, you have the distraction set up?"

Wally doesn't hear the response, but Beast Boy's grin promises mischief.

"Blue?...Excellent, on the way. Let's go Wally!" Beast Boy calls back to him, tugging him through various hallways, only to be greeted by a piece of ventilation dropping to the ground to reveal Robin, wearing an outfit so similar to what Dick used to that Wally feels a faint ping of nostalgia. (_This is going to make everything from last night ten times better_.)

A few more hallways and a few flights of stairs leads them to an upper part of the Cave, where the cliffs are accessible.

"Wonder Girl, you're up."

Thirty seconds later, Wally finds himself being picked up by a blonde girl, in black yoga pants and black tank-top, and flown over the harbor, to a remote area of trees, beating a guy in bright blue flying Robin over and a bird version of Beast Boy by just a few moments.

Beast Boy morphs back to his regular appearance and lets out a joyful, "Yes! I can't believe it worked. And you doubted me!" He remembers, pointing an accusing finger at Robin, who looks back at the Cave and winces. "Now, we've got to head to the diner off North Street, the one that doesn't discriminate against, 'any type of color, especially one related to a Super Hero'.

Blonde ignores him and focuses bright blue eyes on Wally, "You're _the_ Kid Flash! Can I just tell you how great it is to meet you, because all everyone has ever done is tell me these stories, and is it true that you once blew up every door in the training room?" She sounds so awed that Wally can't help but laugh, especially after Beast Boy throws an arm around her waist and pokes her in the side.

"I am, but call me Wally; thank you, and I will not confirm that, but please tell Nightwing to stop telling that story, um, what's your name?"

"Oh! I'm Cassie, or, ah, I'm also Wonder Girl to Wonder Woman, obviously, lasso and everything," she beams again, pride evident in her voice as she shows him part of the rope in her bag. Wally likes her already.

"Wonder Woman, wow. She had always been against sidekicks when we first started. You must be special," Wally smirks and winks over-dramatically.

Cassie gaps, "You really think? I mean, of course, no one better for the job." Yet another easy grin follows, but it is distracted by the boy in blue armor, arguing with himself.

Wally nudges Robin, "Dude, who's the guy in blue talking to himself?"

"That's Blue Beetle. You can meet him later."

"Is he still going to be talking to himself? Cause that introduction can be last."

"Sorry, sorry," Blue Beetle calls out, armor retracting to show tan skin, dark hair, and well worn green hoodie. "Call me Jaime."

"It's cool man. And not like I'm not thrilled you did this, because I am," Wally claps BB on the back, "but what are you doing?"

"We pulled a FLEE maneuver, like we used to do when I joined four years ago," Beast Boy tells him. Wally laughs, remembers how he, Superboy, and Rob, after a few weeks of shameless begging, snuck Beast Boy out from Miss M and Batman when he first joined so they could show him the town. Even now, Wally suspects Batman knew the entire time. More like deep rooted belief.

"Oh, that diner on North. Got it. Carry on," Wally thinks about trying to get them all back to the Cave, to apologize and be the mature one. He's not dealing with Dick or Superboy now, so screw it. (_This is going to come back to haunt me. I really should go back. After breakfast._)

Robin frowns and mutters out of the corner of his mouth, "Even with me here, he's going to lose it. You realize that, right?"

"All too well Baby Bird."

All too well.

* * *

(May 10, 2016, 7:19 AM)

"Alright, there was a fire outside of your room and about fifty explosive smoke pellets went off through the Cave, and I don't even want to examine the damage for a few ill placed ones, much less all of them. Part of the core ventilation system got kicked out both literally and because of the smoke, and the upper door to the cliffs is dented to the point where it won't open. Kid Flash is also gone. Am I missing anything?"

"No, Batgirl."

"I'm going to go take over the security systems and cameras; we'll measure the extent of the damage after."

"Those went out?"

"La'gann, I've got it taken care of. Contact Superboy and Miss Martian."

"What about Nightwing?"

"I'll tell him later."

Much later. Never would have been an option if Wally had decided to be the mature one. _(Fat chance after the past few days, Gordon.)_

* * *

(May 10, 2016, 7:44 AM)

Robin looks faintly ill at the amount of sugary maple syrup Beast Boy pours onto his waffles, but, in a testament to both good manners and Bat-Family silence, he doesn't say anything.

Cassie, however, has no qualms sweetly asking if Beast Boy was looking forward to diabetes for years to come, forcing Jaime to snort into his coffee.

"Hey, be nice to the guy who had to get us out from both security and Batgirl." (_Oh fuck_. Wally should have stayed back at the Cave. Dick wouldn't physically harm him.)

"Did you see me being cruel to Robin?"

"Leave me out of this."

"Before you guys go on for half an hour, wanna show him," Jaime gestures to Wally, "our gift?"

Gift? Wally approves. Cassie nods and reaches into her bag, pulling out a thick book, bright orange with stickers of Justice League logos covering it.

"It's a scrapbook. When Nightwing wouldn't let us in to see you, we decided we could take over your catch-up of both Team and culture. Robin made sure to put important events in there too, for some reason."

"Not like we got over an alien invasion or the global politics and economies of the world changing within two years, or anything like that."

"Don't open it here, though." At Robin's suspicious look, detectable even with sunglasses, Jaime elaborates, "Just in case it falls apart."

"Or explodes."

"Not helping my case here Beast Boy."

Wally grabs the book and moves it away from Robin and his calculating eyes. He's touched, pure and simple, and can barely choke out a "Thank you." Judging from everyone's looks, they understand, even Robin, who relaxes slightly and no longer looks tempted to take it back.

The moment, because it's Wally's life, is ruined by the scrape of a chair to join their booth, and a woman's bright smile.

"Grab your things and start heading back to the Cave. I'll settle the bill with the lovely owner of this diner, and so help you if I manage to get back before you." Batgirl's grin is feral, tone sweeter than Beast Boy's syrup.

Wally has never been more frightened in his life. Five on one were no odds for Barbara.

* * *

(May 10, 2016, 8:10 AM)

"Congratulations guys, this was really impressive. Besides causing possibly thousands of dollars in damages to the Cave, wasting my time, and breaking at least a dozen rules, you've managed to all be grounded from missions for a month." She lets the groans finish before continuing, "And why exactly are you guys out of school?"

Beast Boy, lacking any self-preservation, replies, "Because we faked being sick?" Wally hits him across the back of the head before either Bat can.

Batgirl, unflappable and calm toned even now, basically orders Wonder Girl and Blue Beetle home until they would be getting out of school, and sends Beast Boy to his room, halls away from a displeased La'gann. Wally hears Robin briefly mutter a prayer under his breath for that one.

No one bothers protesting. Cassie impulsively hugs him goodbye before she goes, mumbling about an autograph later in the day.

Batgirl waits until the three are gone before turning on Robin and Wally.

"We all expected better from you." Wally's not entirely sure if she's specifically talking to one or the other. "Especially after the night Dick had."

Oh, just him. Robin looks away too. (How does he survive the Bat-Glare if he does that?)

"Why?" Batgirl questions.

Robin responds before Wally can. "I felt it would be better if I went as well, that way you'd know where we were."

"And no part of you thought to tell us before hand?"

"Then they would have done a different plan without any possible supervision."

Batgirl sighs and turns to Wally, "And you?"

"And me what? I'm the kidnap victim." The other two give him identical, unimpressed looks he recognizes from years of identifying them through Dick's own sunglasses.

"You could have come back at any time and brought them with you. Instead I find a note on the bed saying, _Back later. I'm fine_."

"That was me," Robin admits.

"Not helping dude. At all."

"I tried, at least. It was for your sake."

"Great, taking another page from your brother."

"Hey! You didn't see him yesterday, so don't blame me for wanting to make it easier on him." For all his quiet, serious nature, Robin's voice is unwavering.

"Enough! Robin, back to Gotham. Wally, back to medical. Considering you missed one psych evaluation yesterday, we'd rather you not miss another today."

"Psych evaluation?"

"You want to leave soon, right? Robin, that wasn't a suggestion," Batgirl calls out, noticing Robin having not moved an inch.

"You didn't call him yet, did you?"

Batgirl sighs, her grim look relenting slightly, and shakes her head.

For all Wally jokes, there is a strong, protective bond between Bats that has often enough been extended to him; he's never been reminded of that as strongly as the fierce look Robin gives him before leaving, analytical and unfriendly. (_Someone's got a little brother who loves him. Wally ignores the part of his heart that approves of that._)

"Takes after his dad, huh?"

Batgirl doesn't bother responding, just shoves him towards the medical ward.

* * *

(May 10, 2016, 1:35 PM)

Wally finds himself, after three hours of psych evaluations with Black Canary, an hour of nap-brainwave monitoring, a call from Aunt Iris, and a huge lunch, sitting on the well worn green couch precious feet from the kitchen, desperately looking for anything other than soap operas. (_I thought they all got canceled when I was alive!_)

Wally shifts again, the bright orange book catching his eyes. He's been attempting to wait for at least Beast Boy to resurface, but desperate times. He sits up and opens the first page of the scrapbook, finding more logos and a few snap shots of Nightwing, Miss M, Superboy, and a blurry one of Artemis, bow poised to snap. The words "Welcome Home Wally" were written in the center in purple glitter pen.

The next page showed a picture of Wonder Girl and the message Hope this helps! :) in the same purple glitter pen.

Directly below it was a picture of Blue and Beast Boy together and the phrases _Good Luck_ and **Miss Me**? in blue and green ink respectively

Finally came an even blurrier photo than Artemis's, one of short black hair and dark sunglasses **(**Don't believe a word they say. This is not necessarily a valid explanation of various events that took place in the world. Consult appropriate sources**)**. His words were hard to distinguish, black ink covered or crossed out by purple, blue, and green and the various comments added, insulting the insult of their truth.

Wally smiles and reads on.

* * *

(Excepts from the Wally West 2016 Catch-Up Scrapbook) (Further note: Wonder Girl, **Beast Boy**, **(**Robin**)**, _Blue Beetle_)

A picture of a green scaled man with red eyes is scribbled on, green pen making devil horns on him. He is described as **(**Lagoon Boy, born 1998 in Atlantis, mentor Aquaman, main power comes from Atlantian Sorcery, currently in a relationship with Miss Martian**)**

**He's a jerk.**

_Agreed._

He's not too bad.

_Neptune's Beard._

He's a little annoying.

**(**He's capable in a fight, but most likely to complain about his lack of involvement on a mission. Do not partner with Superboy.**)**

_Seconded._

**(**You don't need to really care about him if you don't want to, but he's good to Miss M at least.**)**

**Yeah, he is. I guess.**

_You just want your sister to dump him._

So?

An image of a set of tiny, green aliens with an arrow pointing at them labeled Krolotean

Long story short, there was an alien invasion a little less than half a year before you came back.

**(**Remember when the Justice League went missing for 16 hours? They were placed on the other side of the galaxy on the planet called Rimbor**)** **and went mental**, **(**attacking the locals in an aggressive declaration of war. In response, the Kroloteans came to Earth, using stolen, advanced technology to take over identities in a long term divide and conquer strategy.**)**

**It was amazing.  
**

_You could have phrased that better, ese._**  
**

**(**The Justice League went off planet to go to trail, explaining their circumstances. Due to the legal defense Icon gave them, and testimony from captured Kroloteans, the Justice League were tried technically guilty, but the Rimbor council agreed they were innocent in a bout of uncontrolled insanity. This allowed them to return to Earth with orders of any remaining Kroloteans to go back. Which they did.**)**

_Eventually. We more or less got rid of all but a few of them by the time they returned._**  
**

The Justice League was hammered in the media over it, especially by that G. Gordon Godfrey, who is a total hypocrite and liar! Especially after he was revealed_** (scribbled out words)  
**_

**(**We're not allowed to talk about that, remember? League orders?**)  
**

**It's in relation to Darkseid.  
**

_It's a Superman thing we weren't really involved in**.** _

_**(**_Nightwing would like me to assure you that both Superboy and Superman get along extremely well now, more so than ever before_**.)  
**_

An image of a slice of pizza (and a pen drawn picture of Beast Boy drooling)

_Freddy's burned down._

**Hey, that's like a death in the family. We can't tell him like this.**

**(**Again, Beast Boy, phrasing?**)**

What's Freddy's?

**Get off this page.**

The title card of the television show _Community_.

It didn't last six seasons and a movie.

**(**Nightwing doesn't have the heart to tell you.**)**

**What's _Community_?**

Get off this page.**  
**

(_Ha!_)_**  
**_

* * *

(May 10, 2016, 3:05 PM)

Wally smiles and puts the book down. He rolls stiff shoulders and doesn't bother turning around, "If you kill me, the new recruits will miss me. And so will Miss M."

"Don't be too sure of that; you did go along with Beast Boy's plan." Barbara takes her own portion of the couch, back on the seat and legs leaning over the top. "Dick would be the more obvious choice for vengeance, or your uncle. But that requires me leaving evidence behind."

"And you're too good for that."

"And I'm too good for that," she echoes. "Wanna tell me what happened yesterday? Or this morning?" (_Do I have a choice?_)

"I needed to run. You have no idea what it's like, everything hidden from you for 'your own good'."

"Daughter of a cop?"

"That's different. Look, I'm sorry everyone worried, but I'm not sorry I did it. It made me feel better, actually not being stuck in this Cave. If I need to again, I'll let someone know and tell them when I'll be back."

"I guess that's all we can ask for. And today, you honestly didn't know you were about to be taken?"

"No, that one I'm innocent of. I'd own up to it anyways; it was pretty creative."

"Can't imagine where they got the inspiration," Barbara's conspiratory smirk matches his.

"I like them, even Robin."

"Even Robin?"

"I'm thrown off by the differences, let's just leave it at that."

Babs smiles, softer this time, thoughtful, "He's got so much potential; he might end up being your favorite over Dick once you get to know him."

"The way we're going, that might not be too far off."

"Wally."

"I know, I know. Talk to him, not you, because you're not picking sides, you never do. And if you did, that would automatically make that person right, so shut up or I'll pick him." (He can count on one hand the number of times that has occurred in a different way. As in zero.)

"I don't sound like that."

"Yeah you do." Wally leans into her now upright shoulder and sighs, deep and weary.

"You'll get through this Wally, I promise."

It's a comforting thought, a Barbara Gordon promise.

He hops off the couch and pretends she didn't _let_ him get the drop on her as he presses a kiss into red hair in gratitude.

"I'm going to go destroy something else with Beast Boy now."

"Go ahead; I'm leaving soon and Mal's on duty. He never bothers to check the areas near the Bio-Ship due to lack of activity."

Bless her.

* * *

(May 10, 2016, 7:20 PM)

Artemis slips in through the open window of the well lit, well furnished living room, located near the outskirts of Atlanta. Jade and Roy have picked far worse before. She looks over the bassinet and coos gently at her niece, sleeping soundly.

"What are you doing here?"

"Oh, hey bro. How've you been? I was guessing dead from the lack of picking up your phone, or responding to messages. From anyone."

"That's not an answer. And don't call me that."

"Neither is yours. And it's still true, isn't it? Anyway, is Jade around?"

"No. She's working."

The majority of Artemis screams to question, to prevent the possible crime, but she had to give up saving either one of them years ago. Besides, Jade has been falling on and off the villain wagon for awhile. (No surprise there.)

"I'm here on unofficial business."

"Obviously." Roy doesn't bother looking at her, instead focusing on making sure Lian (sweet, sweet Lian, the only thing that has made Roy better, made her sister start toning down the latest bout of villainy to an extent) is alright.

Even at his best, Roy has at least kept his bullheadedness and need to get from A to B in the quickest time frame. In a way, Artemis can almost respect him for it. Almost. He's been on the mend, even got a job with the government recently, but he's still got a long way to go to be the man who cornered her in an alleyway and threatened her against harming his friends. Now him she respected, even liked.

"Wally was found alive."

She has his attention, fully. "What?"

"Mission ended with us with a previously unknown Cadmus lab. Pod had Wally in it. And yes, it's really him, doctors analyzing brainwaves, M'gann and her uncle agree, and Nightwing says it. Good enough for me." Artemis is very careful to avoid using the trigger word of clone. Even after accepting real Roy's death, and seeing it with his own eyes, the word is more or less a guarantee of Red Arrow going berserk. Putting it mildly.

"Have you seen him yet?" Roy's voice sounds rusty, disused as he gapes at her.

"Not yet. Been tracking you down and finishing finals. I'll be seeing him soon." (And that is a promise. The only reason she hasn't abandoned everything else to be at his bedside is the fact that Roy being there to relate to him could be a bigger help than both her and Dick's support combined. And it not like the former boy blunder (she calls him that fondly, she swears) hasn't been sending her twice daily updates, or at any time she asks.)

"Keep me updated." At the look his sister-in-law sends him, Roy relents. "I'll make sure to actually pick up."

"You're not going?" Artemis should be less surprised, she really should be.

"Not yet. I need more time. And I can't exactly abandon Lian in the middle of the night." Artemis concedes his point, but she knows a major issue is the fact he'd rather jump off a roof without a grappling arrow than go back to the Cave.

"I'll call you when he's out of Mount Justice." The relieved nod in return proves she hit the mark right on the bulls-eye. Like always. (_I'll drag you to him when he's out_.)

This is nice. No one has drawn an arrow on the other, and there have been no death threats. A welcome change from most other visits. She didn't even have to scream or throw a book at his head (although she stopped that one once she realized she had a niece who could be woken up. Actually, she's still really upset about finding out that way).

Artemis blows a kiss to the still sleeping Lian, and heads out the window yet again. Before she goes, she calls out, "We haven't told him anything but the basics. Those are on you if you want him to find out the right way."

Even with her back turned and arrow flying through the air, Artemis knows Roy is frowning, and planning.

Some things never change.

* * *

(May 10, 2016, 9:20 PM)

Wally finds himself being tugged around by Beast Boy for the countless time; they've been laying low since Superboy and Miss M had returned from the League, in mixed moods. (Miss M had been more grimly disappointed due to wanting them to behave and not terrorize her boyfriend. Wally suspects Superboy's disappointment had been centered around not being there for both an amazing breakfast and destructive break out. He could also still be awkwardly mad about last night. Wally's not about to poke the bear to find out.)

People die doing that.

Wally's looking forward to going home to Central City, but he's content enough, standing in front of Beast Boy's door and being told to close his eyes.

"This is going to be epic," Beast Boy whispers, shoving Wally into the room with the order to open.

A wall of items greets him, some familiar, like a faded red beret, a sippy cup, a piece of cape, and a hood-mask combination. Others are completely new, such as a boomerang, an actual snow globe, and sash-ish type of cloth. Wally swallows.

"Ta-da! Here is the updated wall of souvenirs. What do you think?"

"You kept all of them?" Wally knows there's a touch of wonderment in him, but he has every right to feel that way. Souvenirs had been something he and Beast Boy had joked about long before Garfield was an established member of the Team. He always claimed he would take over for Wally when he retired, but Wally never knew he had been serious.

"Well, kind of. Sis took the robot eye, Artemis took a bunch of things like a mask, I don't know what Superboy took, and Nightwing grabbed a backpack." Wally remembers every piece: the robot eye Miss M took because it was their first mission together, Artemis traces of both her family and the growth that led them to date for so long, Superboy most likely took the mirror from England, where he explained James Bond and they had a marathon of every single movie, and Dick, the backpack he found more meaningful than the sword, the reason so few people knew, much less understood.

His family and the memories he left behind.

Beast Boy's matured from the eleven year old he had been before, doesn't bother asking if he's okay, but fills the silence with chatter, stories of his own souvenirs (and as much as Wally adores his friends, both old and new, chatter from someone other than him is not a key component in their relationships. It's comforting, this type of silence being filled.)

Two batarangs: The scratched up one was my first mission with Robin. The Riddler had joined with some gang dude in California and was threatening to destroy this chain of buildings. It went soooo bad. Lagoon Boy was knocked out with Bumblebee, and I was so tired I wanted to fall asleep on the floor. Robin noticed, took down the remaining guards, threw the batarang at some dude with a gun pointed at me, and saved all of us. The second took out a Krolotean biting on my tail. He was leading the mission and giving orders when he threw it, not missing a beat. So cool.

A baseball: We ended up fighting with these robots in the park. Wonder Girl threw it so hard that it went through three robot heads.

A miniature train: Blue Beetle shot out every window of a train we were on when first figuring out his powers; I keep it there just to annoy him.

A set of fake blue flowers, woven into a crown: Tula's favorites. Reminded her of home cause of the color.

He wishes he had been there for it all, but this is nice, at least.

For a minute, he could pretend he had never been gone.

Or maybe a second.

* * *

(May 10, 2016, 11:30 PM)

Miss M waits for him outside his room in the medical ward. She tries to smile, but Wally can tell how fake it is, can see grimness tugging the corners down.

"Still not used to the hair, gorgeous." They have this familiar pattern, morphed from years ago, when he thought himself half in love with her, before Artemis, before Superboy. Even now, when he sees a sister looking at her, he automatically defaults to the compliments that amounted to nothing in the wake of the many ups and few lows of their respective relationships. (_Or more lows for her considering she has a new boyfriend._)

He can tell she's trying to perk up for him, and he wants to tell her to stop.

"Good news! Between your aunt and how well the tests have been going, you're going home late tomorrow! They even got Batman to agree, as long as you keep coming back here for a few weeks. It's going to be different without you. I got so used to it again." Her mind is on something else, but M'gann is genuinely happy for him, even if she faces the same weakness of letting him out of sight.

(Superboy's claims of Wally doing the same thing in a reverse situation might have more credence than Wally wanted to accept at the time.)

Even with the somber air and the direct Batman commands, Wally is nearly weak-kneed with relief at the prospect of going home, something he's wished for but never expected to get so soon. (_He knows who has interceded on his behalf. They're going to need to talk about this._)

He hugs Miss M and tells her that he loved her even before she was the barer of such good news, but this just makes it even better.

There is no longer any flush or confused look on her face, like 2010 or even 2014, just a steady, fond, unsurprised look.

There's something deeper that has changed, but Wally is unsure how to find it.

He'll figure it out eventually.

"I'm guessing my next job is to knock myself out and keep being a model patient?"

She laughs at him, truly and without irony. "When did you start?"

If nothing else comes out from her relationship with Superboy, she at least has a deadpan expression to counteract the "Hello, Megan!" moments she's kept despite the time skip.

Wally hugs her goodnight, firmly, because she may be different, but she's still his Megan, still the girl who stopped being fragile.

That was the best change he could have asked for her.

* * *

(May 10, 2016, 8:15 AM)

Dick Grayson finds himself leaving the Cave in the early morning, out of sight before Wally can fully awake and realize what he's been doing.

* * *

_Holy crap, 7500 more words. I seem to be making a pattern of happy-serious with this story. Don't really know how to control that. While it may seem like filler now, the connections and developing friendships started in this chapter will have ramifications up until the end, so don't worry. This comes into play. The next chapter will be this gigantic resolution and get them out of the Cave. It will most likely be out Saturday or Sunday depending on how far I get before the episode gets released. There's a small chance this will be updated before then, but most likely not.  
_

_Side Notes:_

_First off, I nearly had **Jason Todd** appear in this fic. Well, get mentioned at least. He would have popped up during Wally's conversation with Barbara as Robin being different from what he had been described as by Dick before Wally died and Barbara having to clue him in that Jason died and Tim was someone completely different. No disrespect to Jason Todd, I have an Under the Red Hood poster over my desk and part of me thinks it would be entriguing for him to somehow magically pop up on the show, but I'm not holding my breath. And he didn't really flow into this so well; his death would have had to have occurred the same time as Tula and Wally's, and even then, Tim might not necessarily be around yet to be in Young Justice if Jason had died much later, say around the year mark of Wally's death._

_Second, these characters, oh my. I worry a lot about how this lot presented themselves, especially Robin. **Tim Drake** is my favorite comic book character of all time (Wally and Dick second and third respectively) and I literally have his Red Robin run less than two feet away from me on my bed. That being said, such as the case with Superboy, I can not necessarily give him his comic personality just because it might not fit in with the show so I struggled with what to do with him given the few minutes of screen time. Beast Boy and Blue Beetle I'm less worried for, and if the next episode shows Cassie and Barbara being as awesome as I think they are, then we're good. Miss M will be appearing in that episode as well, so I'll feel better for her once I get more examples. As for Artemis, when it comes to her future Wally-Team reactions, I'll be fine, so if she seems off now, I apologize, that's on me. I really just wanted to establish her and Roy in this. And damn did he change. But seriously, Tim Drake. So much love. You have no idea what my face was like when I found out it was him. Twitches on floor. And just so we're clear, Superboy has no idea who he is yet.  
_

_Third, I am scared for Bloodlines, the Young Justice episode after this upcoming one. It's Flash Family oriented (come on Impulse, already wrote a fic for you!) but the FLASH FAMILY part worries me, just in case something bad happens. Comic book readers, you know what I'm referring too. If my worst fears come true, I will end up raging and making the ramifications of that episode as part of my epilogue. If it ends up being lighthearted and sweet, I will never finish this story because I will have died in an explosion of happiness and relief. There's a reason we don't have a summary, and I don't think it's good.  
_

_And finally, seriously, you guys are amazing with everything you've said and done to encourage me; I literally have to stop myself from writing for you guys when I get super close to an episode just because I'll end up with like 20000 words. And even then stopping myself, I'll end up writing like 3000 words before just because I want there to be that much for you to all read. I wouldn't be doing this without you. The next chapter will most likely be 10000 words (again, I have plans that go farther and farther because you guys review and make me have feelings!) I never expected 4 chapters and 25000 words in about a week.  
_

_As always, have a lovely day._


	5. I'm Doing What I Can

**Title: We Were Once Perfect (5/?)**

**Warnings:** Potential spoilers for entire series and future episodes (yay head-canon ideas and guesswork!) Oh, and character death, both true and assumed.

WALLY IS BACK AND IT IS A GLORIOUS THING. AND BATGIRL! SHE WAS AWESOME. OH THANK YOU LORD FOR MY CANON BEING TRUE!

_**Note: This took me longer to write because I spent the first few days flailing my arms around and putting my heart back together because you guys BROKE it and made it too full! I LOVE YOU (whether you be a reader, list adder, or reviewer-who I love just a little extra). I'm doing this all for you (and me, and Ally Marton) and I honestly am going to burst into tears one day because of all this support and kindness. **_

_In response to anon reviews: __**ZS**__-This is good, we can fear together (already panicking eagerly) along with a bunch of other readers. I'm glad you enjoyed last chapter. Now, you are going to eventually get what you requested (but you'll have to read to find out if it's this chapter or the next). _

_Once again, this is based off the wonderful __**Ally Marton's**__ prompt: Wally supposedly dies in a mission, but somehow he comes back to the team years later, as Wally, not some Cadmus clone or traitor. How does the team (both old and new) react? The things she definitely wanted were the team actually thinking Wally had been dead for years and them happily going mental getting him back. I took that basic prompt and further elaborated to make it a story of Wally (__and technically us with this time skip__) coming to terms with everything that changed. And everyone is going to appear sooner or later in this story._

_And yet again, I hope I delivered, and I hope you all enjoy this as much as I did writing it._

_Title taken from the Automatic Loveletter song, Hush. Further musical influence comes from Alex Band's We've All Been There and Young the Giant's Cough Syrup.  
_

_Remembers, reviews are love. Check end of story for about a billion more__** notes**__._

**Summary:** 2016 spoilers. After two years, Wally faces a long road back home. Fortunately, the Team is there to get him up to speed. Or, where Wally corrupts new members, Nightwing snarks, the new generation kidnaps, and Batgirl's the biggest BAMF of all.

* * *

(May 11, 2016, 9:00 AM)

"Oh, this is sad," Babs tells him, happily settled into her favorite booth in the diner. It's a tradition the two have shared for nearly three years, ever since she first decided to be Batgirl (and it was her decision; by that point, he and Bruce were just along for the ride). Every Wednesday, they would meet before school and binge on unhealthy, glorious food that Dick suspects Alfred has nightmares about. The only occasional change in this schedule, during the first year at least, was the inclusion of Wally, claiming to be proving his devotion by forsaking having Alfred made breakfast in Wayne Manor.

(Barbara would always raise an eyebrow and hide a smile behind her customary glass of orange juice. She and Wally never had his caffeine dependence.)

"What?" Dick barely looks up from his slightly runny eggs (that he will tell Alfred he did NOT have).

"I know it's been two days since your break-up, but you look like hell, and he's leaving soon, so why don't you talk to him. When he's awake."

"Break-up?"

"Well one of you is ignoring the issue entirely and the other is eating iffy food and pining with his gal pal. Guess which one you are." Barbara is direct, to the point, and witty as ever. Dick would be screwed if Babs didn't have a sympathetic frown, but the expectant look in her eye promises no escape.

"God, what is it with making me the emotional female of these situations? Half the Team calls me mom behind my back, when you get mad I get called princess, and now this? No. Just no. I was raised to inspire fear," Dick ignores Barbara's shameless laughing, "I am my father's son."

"Did you inherit that pout too?" She's too cheeky for a 9 AM emotional talk he's not even awake for.

Dick hopes his look speaks volume, but as Barbara blithely attacks her pancakes, he doubts it.

"Look, for some reason I'm not remembering now, I love you both. Therefore, I'm not letting you sulk anymore, nor is Wally not dealing with this before he leaves. Can you two just be happy for five minutes?"

"We're _fine_."

Barbara scoffs as her frown deepens, "He scared you, and you don't know how to tell him how you feel because you're trying to protect him from everything. You two have always done that, except you also talked about it, so it never became a major concern."

"It's different now. I just want him to be safe."

"I _know_. But he won't be able to protect himself if he doesn't know the truth. You realize half of the reason he pulled that disappearing act is because no one was telling him anything. And you can't watch over him forever."

Dick doesn't look her in the eye.

"Tim skipped school and is hiding in the rafters near Wally's room, isn't he?"

Dick nods.

Barbara takes one final sip of her juice and slides out of the booth, "You two care in such odd ways. Go talk to him, alright? I'll find out if you don't."

With that she's off to her internship, leaving Dick both the tab and the weight of her words.

* * *

(May 11, 2016, 9:45 AM)

Wally is immensely proud of his self-restraint (for once). He hasn't commented on being spied on, ate his breakfast quietly, submitted to another brain scan because they were _never ending_, and seemingly went back to sleep.

He's quickly getting bored with this plan, however. He gets to three hundred without speed counting (Dick always hated when he did that, so did Artemis, actually it freaked Wolf out too) and finally sighs out loud, "I know you're up there dude. It's been how long? Trust me, I am trained to feel and react to both your glower and your surveillance stare. So either leave or come down."

Silence

"I will start singing. I still have a list of the top five songs you hate and I will use it. Evilly and with extreme prejudice. Hear that? Prejudice!"

Miss M pokes her head in, "Wally, is everything alright?"

"It's cool, my best friend's just ignoring me and being a total jerk!" Wally's voice rises as he speaks.

Miss M frowns and comments, "Nightwing left two hours ago, Wally. Are you sure you're okay?"

"That bastard was here and didn't tell me?" Wally shakes his head. "I'm really fine, don't worry." (_I am not crazy_).

Wally smiles at Miss M, who, after looking at him for a few seconds, shrugs her shoulders, waves goodbye, and leaves.

"I don't like you right now. In fact, you're rapidly going down my list of favorites. _Get used to being demoted!_" Wally doesn't actually think screaming at the ceiling where the air vent is located is actually helping, but it makes him feel better.

"He really isn't here."

Yet again, Wally finds himself having a heart attack at the hands of Robin, currently sitting in a chair near his bed, on the side of the room opposite the vent. The door hadn't opened the entire time, except for Miss M.

"How do you do that? No, don't tell me. Family secret." If his voice wobbles, it is justified. "Didn't you ditch school enough this week?"

"Special circumstances."

"Right."

Robin, no longer new, looks to be measuring his words carefully. It's rather interesting, after being part of the mouthiest duo of the Team, to see his partner's brother being silent. Even with the time jump and all the feelings and shock associated with it, Wally's strangely at ease no longer seeing Dick in the red and black. It doesn't hurt that this new Robin is so remarkably different (inexperienced, hesitant) yet strikingly similar at the same time (competent, protective, friendly as a Bat can be).

"I'm glad to see you'll be released today."

"Really? Thanks."

"You'll be better off adjusting there, and Nightwing will no longer have all night stake-outs here. Neither will I, for the matter."

"Wait, what?"

"You can't honestly think he abandoned you, just because you did something idiotic. You two wouldn't have lasted otherwise." Robin, still quiet, is almost indignant in defense of Dick. (The part of Wally that can admit he is wrong approves.)

"Hey, not cool."

"No, not cool is seeing him upset and panicking for an entire day and then sneaking out of the Cave at random intervals to check on you."

Damn, does he have a point. And Wally knows better than to claim he's shocked by this. They've fought before, even uglier than this instance, but they never truly left one another, even if they had to be sneaky about it.

"He's lucky to have you." Wally can't help the smile tugging at his lips.

Robin seems startled before commenting, "So are you. And I'm lucky to have him." He's more earnest that Wally has ever seen anyone (and that includes himself and all of the easy, sure decisions _Artemis-KidFlash-YoucanTRUSTmetokeepyoursecret_ he faced).

"Big brother of the year?"

"Something like that." Unlike Beast Boy, Robin wouldn't give him an inch (not like he thought Wally deserved it after the little incident).

"And just how long has he been something like that?"

"You can ask him yourself. He _loves_ to tell the stories. All of them." The domino mask does little to hide the accompanying eye roll.

"Chatterbox." It would take far less than the protege of the world's greatest detective to hear the fond tone in his voice.

"Unashamedly."

Wally can only nod at that as he swings out of bed, speed changing in the adjacent bathroom before Robin can properly leave the room. He tugs on his cape and heads off at a slow trot to the kitchen.

"Breakfast time, Baby Bird!"

"I'm older than he was when he joined the team!"

"And that is how we will get to know each other. Good to know."

Wally doesn't need years of being friends with Dick to notice the frown on Robin's face could be much more serious, if he was truly bothered.

Score.

* * *

(May 11, 2016, 1:16 PM)

Iris Allen-West is only happy to let him into her home, beaming at him in-between scoping out each room of the house for any possible danger, for both Dawn and Wally, straightening up cushions and rugs as she goes. He loves this house, always has, from the bay window he could sun in as Wally cheerfully screamed at video games and the television a few feet away to the bright red blanket draping the couch that clashed with everything else in the room but had been around as long as he could remember.

Of course, all the memories would be worthless without the people involved, and he does honestly love the Allen-West family, only a few degrees less than he does Bruce and Alfred. That's why he's not worried that this will go well.

"You may as well start talking now, Dick. I know this isn't a house call for fun, considering the fact they never were even with Wally presumed dead. Have you two figured things out yet? And don't give me that look, even if he hadn't told me, the lack of you in his recounts of yesterday did not go unnoticed," Iris comments, putting a few scattered books back on the shelf. Dick is no longer exactly shocked by this kind of thing happening, even though it awes him just a little bit each time.

"I need a favor."

The answering grin he receives makes him relax, more than slightly.

* * *

(May 11, 2016, 2:35 PM)

"You're leaving already? Seriously?" Beast Boy calls from the end of the hallway, quickly moving to Wally, standing in front of the memorial wall, thankfully nearly blank except for the one exception. (_Oh Tula. I wish I could have said goodbye_.)

"I'm still yours for a few hours BB." He also belongs to Black Canary for a psych exam and whatever scientists are actually looking for one more brain wave monitoring to determine that the 'consistency is within range despite completion of goal'. In times like this, he really wishes Roy was around for him to share dirty looks with behind the prying eyes of the doctors.

Roy would also be the first to formulate an escape plan before he got twitchy; unsurprisingly, Wally's clearance and override codes have been changed. (_Thanks again for that, Dick_.)

"Besides, I'm still getting dragged up here for psych evaluations and all the tests in the world. You'll be sick of me by the end of the week."

"Hey, some credit. I can make it to two weeks. Easily." The grin almost reaches his eyes.

If Wally didn't have complete faith in Miss Martian shutting him down before he could get the question out, he'd whine and cajole for hours on the topic of borrowing Beast Boy for a few days. He'd be the only one without an angry parent after him. And no school. That's still technically important, even if no younger members seem to remember or care.

"At least I'll have my scrapbook of awesomness. You guys really did put everything in there."

"Robin was stubborn beyond belief, man, about that. It was like his job and he kept talking about political strife and world wide stock prices. I think he did it to make my head hurt...hey! I might be on to something. He would randomly start talking about that stuff when he saw me."

Wally laughs, but the little voice in the back of his mind attributes that sort of skilled mind game to Barbara. Robin probably was just that eager.

"Come on, let's go destroy the kitchen for old time's sake and pass out from sugar comas."

Beast Boy nods his head in agreement but stops short of reaching Wally, opening his mouth, but Wally cuts him off, "I'll cover with your sister and Nightwing."

"I'm going to miss you!"

* * *

(May 11, 2016, 5:13 PM)

Wally waits at the doors leading to freedom, impatiently tapping his foot and looking in the direction of Uncle Barry and Martian Manhunter talking quietly on the other side of the room.

"Wait! You can't leave without saying goodbye!" A voice to his left calls out; Wally finds himself hugging Wonder Girl a second later, who adds, "I just got to know you!"

Both ignore Superboy's pointed, "You weren't supposed to have met him yet."

"You'll be coming back soon and teach me about all those secret hiding places for when I make Batgirl want to kill me, right?"

"They're useless against her and other Bat entities, but anyone else? You're golden."

Said Bat-entities smile (Batgirl) or look away (Robin).

She hugs him again before releasing him, tapping him on the shoulder with her first as she floats away.

Superboy doesn't even bother commenting on Blue Beetle shaking his hand and telling him, "Welcome back into the real world, hermano. Let me know if you need anything." It is immediately followed with another confusing instance. "No, that is not an acceptable option!" Blue Beetle yells at himself, but Wally doesn't comment on it, even if Wonder Girl looks tempted to.

Wally suddenly bolts from his position at the door to run to the newly arrived M'gann, spinning them both around as he hugs her. "See you soon, gorgeous." He throws a friendly grin at La'gann and salutes them both before heading back to his previous position.

He stops short in front of Superboy, and holds his arms out expectantly. His efforts get him cuffed across the back of the head and a response of, "I'll see you tomorrow whether you like it or not." The words don't support the small grin on Superboy's face, however.

Batgirl, in all her glory, follows a similar approach, tapping his cheek before slapping him across the back of the head. "If you do anything that can make me worried or upset, I will find out and then find you. Understood?"

"Yes ma'm." She totally loves him and doesn't even stab him when he steals the denied hug.

And while he feels he knows how this Robin ticks a little better, he's not foolish enough to try anything cute until he and Dick (_who is maturely AWOL during this entire proceeding, what the hell man?_) have buried the hatchet. He settles for a firm handshake and smile, and a similar offer for help that Blue Beetle had offered.

A slight pressure lands on his shoulder in the form of a green insect. Wally doesn't say a word, although both Miss Martian (watching like a hawk for her brother) and Superboy (watching like a hawk for_ him_) immediately call out that _no, Beast Boy you can not go along, no matter how much you like Wally and feel you can help him readjust, he will be back soon, now say goodbye_.

While lippy and immature on his worst days, Beast Boy cows under the look the two send him, morphing back to his greened human form long enough to grab Wally's legs with his tail and do the familiar fist bump he learned from Wally years ago.

"You really will come back, right?" There is a slight tremor in Beast Boy's voice, and Wally can only imagine how this feels for him, to have lost both parents, a team mate, and now having to say goodbye to him, returning briefly back to life only to quickly leave to cause havoc in a world Beast Boy can not join him in.

He grabs him by the shoulders and looks Beast Boy in the eyes, "You will see me soon, I promise" (I will not break this on you, I swear.)

Beast Boy hugs him quickly and nods before going off to stand between Wonder Girl and Blue Beetle.

"Ready to go, Kid?" Uncle Barry is a reassuring presence at his side, the first hint of home in Central City. But Wally needs one more second, breathes in the Cave's air and smiles one last time at the motley crew that cares about him, possibly more than he deserves. It's humbling and sweet, and in a tiny way, Wally doesn't want to leave them like this. But every other fiber of his being is calling out for home.

"Born ready."

* * *

(May 11, 2016, 5:30 PM)

"We're home, we're home, we're home. Woo-woo!" Wally ignores his uncle's laugh to do his dance on the lawn. "I've missed you grass, missed you sprinkler system that hates me, even missed you, evil porch I always slip off."

"If you try hugging anything, I'm getting the camera."

"Leave me to my kingdom, Uncle B!"

"Alright then, I'll see you in a few minutes when the sprinklers reject your love and you need a dry shirt."

"I got this."

"Of course you do." If Uncle Barry hadn't had one foot through the door by the time he called that out, Wally suspects his hair would have been patronizingly ruffled (the wind did enough damage on the way without the extra help).

Wally smiles to himself for a moment before dramatically falling to the ground, sprawling out on the grass and feeling the remaining heat radiating out. It still smells like home, even being gone two years.

He's not even bothered by the shadow that falls over him, simply grins and mentions, "Lemonade would be lovely right now. Considering I came back from the dead and all."

Wally expects his aunt or uncle to laugh at him before either getting it for him or pulling him up to get it himself. Therefore the indignant squawk that passes through his lips should not be mocked. Getting kicked, albeit not completely painfully, is still a surprise.

"Next time you drop to the ground, twitch and actually look like your breathing, okay?"

"Dick, what the hell are you doing here?"

"Physically and emotionally abusing you, the way _you_ make it sound," he deadpans.

"Oh, you're hilarious. Aren't we fighting?"

"And what better way to remind you of that than with my presence?"

"But this was one of our real ones. With the avoidance and the _I'm disappointed_ tone. We never get over those without someone nearly dying, a talk that is the equivalent of pulling teeth, or more yelling!"

"I'm still furious. Luckily, we're going to be having that talk as soon as I get you to stop rolling around in the grass. Ace doesn't do that anymore."

"And here comes the sniping."

Dick sighs and bites the inside of his cheek, "No, I don't want to-. Ugh." He reaches a hand down for Wally to grab, pulling him up easily.

"Me too." Wally means the whole, this sucks fighting with you feeling, not whatever exact issue Dick is about to bring up and make them figure out.

"Listen, I know that I keep treating you like you're doing to fall apart or disappear if I look away, and I know I shouldn't. But it's the only thing I can do that makes me remember how this is real."

"I wish it wasn't. If there was something I could do-"

"There isn't though. It's not your fault. When I saw you lying in that medical bed, I promised myself I would handle this, that we would get you up to speed the right way."

"The right way isn't trying to hide everything from me. I promise I will be able to handle it."

"It's not like I, the Team, don't trust you. It's so much more than that." Dick is starting to pace across the lawn and fiddling with his belt, an old habit he had longer than Wally has known him.

"We still don't know why Cadmus kept you or why we were so easily able to take you back with no repercussions. You leaving like that and not responding? All I could think about was you not coming back because they caught you again. Or worse."

Wally bites the inside of his cheek and swallows no small amount of guilt. "I didn't think of that. But you know me, know how I just need to run sometimes. It's the only think I thought I could depend on. You don't know what it's like to be blocked at every opportunity."

"I know you need to run. Which is why you should have told me. And I just couldn't tell you these things."

"I didn't think you'd let me, especially with the orders from Batman not to."

"Wally, you've been the exception from the start, and you know that."

"I do. It's just, I wasn't sure you did. You told me all about the world changing, but when I try and bring the details up, all you do is shut me down. You did the same when I asked how you coped with me gone, how you handled it. All I hear are things that scare the hell out of me in terms of that."

"Babs really did tell you about my last visit to your grave."

"Among other things. And you were right on so many levels, of me hunting down memories and nostalgia for Kaldur and Tula, but I couldn't even _tell_ anyone I was doing it. Everyone's been amazing trying to keep me safe and help me the only ways they know how, but sometimes I feel so alone and lost because they can't help me the way I need them to."

Dick's expression is pained when he replies, "Wally, let me know what I can do. How I can help."

"You already are. You're here and we're talking and you're eventually going to calm down enough to stop treating me like I can break and actually tell me everything. But you've always been my best friend and there are some things only you can let me in on."

"I'll try." And honestly? That's the best Wally can hope for. So he does what he's been meaning to for some time: he hugs his best friend.

A few moments pass before his enemy attacks, spraying them with water and soaking him.

"Boys, can you argue in the house now? Iris won't let dinner start without you," Uncle Barry calls out from the doorway, hand visibly on the control system for the sprinklers.

"Dawn's my favorite!" Wally screams at the house, specifically the brightly lit living room window. (Hey, wait a minute!)

"You're staying for dinner?"

"I'm staying for longer than that," Dick replies dryly, pointing to the gray duffel bad on the porch.

Wally throws his arm around Dick's shoulders and marches them into them into the house.

Into his home.

* * *

**_Alright, time for my extremely long spilling of emotions that are somewhat relevant to this story._**

_**Why this took so long:** So many reasons. I suspect burnout and a lack of inspiration. Or hell it could be because I got a tumblr or the fact this was always going to be the most difficult chapter of transition between shock of being alive and getting to the real world. But it makes me sad this was hard because I love love love writing this for you guys. This was my shortest chapter since the first and I had initially planned for it to be the longest, but that sure changed.  
_

_**Future**: As stated above, this got me. As a result, unless I literally can't go to sleep because this story is demanding to be written, the next update will be sometime around the Bloodlines episode, or even a few days after just so I can give my brain a break. Also, this story will most likely cap out between seven and ten chapters, with the epilogue I just want to write already because I have plaaaans (Lian, Dawn, Damian. And Impulse depending on Bloodlines. And Barry's living regardless for Dawn!)_

_I might write a one shot during the break, just so I have something else to focus on: either Superboy centered or one where Dick is the victim, because, good god, I do not leave Wally alone. I killed him in my last story too. But I already have a summary for a story I'm writing for Bloodlines if it goes the way I fear it will. Prompts (like the lovely Ally Marton's that started this) are welcome if you have any ideas. _

_Now, I'm stealing my own idea here, but if Impulse shows up, I kind of want Wonder Girl, Robin, Beast Boy, and Blue Beetle to make him a survival guide to the team and how messed up they all are.  
_

_**Characters:** Just in case it wasn't clear, Dick had previously gone to ask permission to stay from Iris. Both Superboy and Dawn will be playing big parts in the next chapter. Now, most of you are probably going where the hell is Artemis. I keep promising her to you guys and planned this chapter to end on the cliffhanger of him seeing her at the house, but yeah, that obviously didn't happen. Rest assured and this time I really really truly mean it: she will be in the next chapter. The only part of the next chapter I have even started writing is her getting to see Wally. It's going to happen, I swear.  
_

_**Now, my feelings for Beneath:** I fell asleep three minutes before DC Nation (the Green Lantern finale hit me in the feels), so I was like, are you kidding me life? And that is a big reason why a character such as Bumblebee isn't showcased at the moment; most of this chapter had been done. When I finally got to see it, I lost my ever loving mind at that all female team, and Batgirl. Thank you lord! I love Blue Beetle, and now my goal is to put him in more stories. And the cameos. Holy hell, the cameos and returning characters in this were just gorgeous. It didn't do that much to answer a lot of questions and I found one of my favorite parts being the five seconds of Flash being announced next week, but I really did enjoy this despite my impatience for Bloodlines. And Wonder Girl is precious. She can have a story too._

_And the shows continuing past Bloodlines! No break! Come on **Tim Drake** episode, come on!_

_As always, my dear reader, have a lovely day, and thank you for reading.  
_


	6. A Mirrored Pool of Thought

**Title: We Were Once Perfect (6/8)**

**Warnings:** Potential spoilers for entire series and future episodes (yay head-canon ideas and guesswork!) Oh, and character death, both true and assumed.

WALLY IS BACK AND IT IS A GLORIOUS THING. BLOODLINES KILLED ME!

_**Note: Hello my glorious, lovely readers and reviewers. I took forever to get this to you, so I'm going to just quickly remind you of how much I love each and every one of you and all of the amazing things you make me feel with your presence and reviews. Bless. You all inspire me to come back to this and write.  
**_

_In response to anon reviews: __**ZS**__-See, you and I more or less agree on these episodes and I'm hoping you'll have loved Bloodlines like I did. And thank you for everything you said. By the way, you asked and you shall receive! **ANON**-I'm so glad you love this and that you love all these characters as much as I do. Thanks for the review._

_Once again, this is based off the wonderful __**Ally Marton's**__ prompt: Wally supposedly dies in a mission, but somehow he comes back to the team years later, as Wally, not some Cadmus clone or traitor. How does the team (both old and new) react? The things she definitely wanted were the team actually thinking Wally had been dead for years and them happily going mental getting him back. I took that basic prompt and further elaborated to make it a story of Wally (__and technically us with this time skip__) coming to terms with everything that changed. And everyone is going to appear sooner or later in this story._

_Everyone, thank E3 for this chapter. I was going to wait until this new episode, but the livestream for E3 on my laptop has these horrific lags and hour long gaps between games I care about, so, here you go.  
_

_And yet again, I hope I delivered, and I hope you all enjoy this as much as I did writing it._

_Title taken from the Automatic Loveletter song, Hush. _

_Remembers, reviews are love. Check end of story for about a billion more__** notes**__._

**Summary:** 2016 spoilers. After two years, Wally faces a long road back home. Fortunately, the Team is there to get him up to speed. Or, where Wally corrupts new members, Nightwing snarks, the new generation kidnaps, and Batgirl's the biggest BAMF of all.

* * *

(May 12, 2016, 8:30 AM)

Wally, because he is an amazing friend the vast majority of the time, doesn't kick at Dick on his air mattress as he sneaks out of the room (and he will never admit to the obnoxious dance he does in the hallway at the fact he has gotten away from a Bat undetected. Thank you nocturnal animal sleep schedule.)

Aunt Iris, because she is evil and has shifted loyalties in the past year, gleefully will when Dick finally wakes himself for lunch.

Wally makes his way to the kitchen, where Uncle Barry is settled, reading the paper, baby monitor close by. He resists the temptation to fiddle with it and makes a beeline for the stove. (This relative will betray the fact he nearly dropped to his knees at worship when he saw the well-stocked fridge.)

The paper rustles briefly as Barry comments, "Don't you have another state to run to?"

"Pre-mealing."

"I remember when Dick used to make up words. It worked for him."

"That's a biased, lacking opinion from a man who has the catchphrase, 'back in a flash.'"

Uncle Barry maturely sticks his tongue out at his nephew and attempts a half-hearted grab for the toast Wally just made.

"So, I have questions. No, don't make a joke," Wally is preventing the conversation train from going off the tracks. It is called maturity, and he has it. "Why is my room looking the way it does, and why is there an entire drawer full of papers? Did you guys just leave it like that?"

The room in question is a cleaner, near carbon copy of the way he left it years ago. The walls are a dusty red and his desk is still kiddy cornered in the right upper corner. His bed, with the dark green blankets and the pillows with an arrow insignia and a bat insignia that are fluffed and dryer fresh, still has the wall of pictures hanging over it. The bookshelf has all of his favorites along with many textbooks he never got the chance to burn or sell back.

The aforementioned desk had any type of paper he would need: his driver's license, financial aid package for the next semester at Stamford, a bunch of random sheets with his social security number clearly stating he was among the living, and even what could potentially be the charred remains of his death certificate.

Uncle Barry doesn't seem nonplussed at his questions; in fact, he's fighting a smile (and Wally would bet money, which, the papers for a bank account proved he had, and quite a lot of it, that he wanted to ruffle his nephew's hair).

"Bruce dropped the papers off a few days ago, once he was sure you were actually, well, you. If anyone asks, the reports of your death were greatly exaggerated. The fact you even need to deal with this stress at all is a shame considering all of the hard work you spent volunteering in African countries for a Wayne Industries charitable foundation."

"It's like he's my fairy god mother." Wally isn't trying to trivialize how much this means to him; he never even thought about how he would go about getting his life back, and here Bruce is, like he always has been, taking care of it with the efficiency and pure skill he deserved to be known for."

"Only took a day and a half for him to send it over. The cookies saved in the fridge are from Alfred, by the way."

In an impressive show of skill, Wally has the cookies on the table in front of him in the time it takes Barry to blink twice. Cookies were an appropriate breakfast in a speedster family as long as no wife or aunt was around.

"I'm surprised it took him that long."

"The man's got to sleep." Barry can barely finish the sentence with a straight face.

"And the pristine condition of my room?"

Barry steals a cookie and comments, "Before you panic, we did pack up most of your things and placed them in the attic. It didn't feel right getting rid of them. If you're missing anything, it is up there. Why everything is back in your room is something Iris and I had very little to do with."

Wally's deadpan is firmly in check when he snarks back, "The magic cleaning fairy rumors are true? Be still my heart." He's quick to dodge the newspaper waved at his head.

"Two days ago your aunt opened the door to Superboy and Dick, who had blueprints and old pictures. They decided where everything needed to go and then dragged Robin and Wonder Girl to help finish things up. Your best friend did a lot of supervising once they showed, and Wonder Girl spent most of her time waving at Flash baby."

"I can see him nitpicking over the pictures now. And that kid should be looked at."

"Robin threw a frame at his head if it makes you feel better."

"It will if that was caught on film."

Whatever corny, and possibly clever, although that was more Aunt Iris's domain, response Uncle Barry would have delivered is silenced by the noise coming from the baby monitor. Wally does not vibrate in his seat. He does not.

What he does is follow his uncle to the source (he loves this kid, but on his own, he will kill her accidentally, and then his relatives will kill him on purpose, and Dick will somehow get involved, and there will be blood...).

While Barry checks Dawn over and changes her diaper, Wally makes the silliest faces he can and dramatically waves his hands around when he has her attention. He coos when she does, and Uncle Barry wisely doesn't say anything. Quite frankly, the two of them making spectacles out of themselves in this welcoming green nursery might be as close to normal as the family gets.

Wally is more than okay with that.

* * *

(May 12, 2016, 9:30 AM)

Palo Alto is gorgeous and sunny, his bright college home. No matter where he ends up, there will always be a part of him firmly tied to the area, from the science building he lived in during finals week, to the corner of High Street where he and Artemis had first started looking for a place to live, ultimately settling down just a few blocks over. He'd spent a fulfilling year there (and would spend more if the papers Bruce had left in the desk had anything to say on the subject), but honestly, it wouldn't have been the same without his girl.

The same spitfire reclining in her chair in the outdoor cafe, the one he always grumbled about until a scone was slid under his nose.

Even though her back is to him, he knows she's aware of his presence. Wally takes in the green of her shirt, nearly matching the bow he knows is in the case by her feet. Early archery practice then.

He doesn't say anything as he slinks into the seat on the other side of the table; neither does she, only slides a plate to him while she sips her coffee.

A scone. Only her.

"So," he starts, and stops with the raise of her eyebrow.

"I've missed you." There's the honesty that he's grown to expect from her, despite their rocky beginnings. Her voice is close to level when she continues with, "You have no idea how much."

"I don't, babe. I don't."

He means that, truly, and has plans to elaborate further on that and how much he wants to apologize, but, the look on Artemis's face promises a forthcoming rant, and Wally leans back to enjoy the show.

"No, you really don't. It's not like you broke up with who you considered to be the love of your life only for him to die three days later before you could let him apologize."

Wally remembers that fight; he isn't foolish enough to mention how he was in the right.

"Of course, because I still love and miss our friends," (and because she needed to let steam out with finals week, Wally thinks to himself), "I decide to go out to an abandoned warehouse. Do you know what I find? That same guy."

"Was he still a looker?"

Artemis does not throw a plate at his head, which means the day is going better than the last one they shared, "No, but he was still an idiot. God, Wally." She doesn't move her hand out of the way when he reaches for it and holds on.

"I never would have let anything hurt you; that mission kept you all safe, and, if I had to do it again, I'd have gone on it, even if there wasn't someone there to bring me back to life." The fact she would not have survived the explosion, been able to get away from the blast site enough to be recovered, goes unmentioned.

She doesn't meet his eyes for a moment, but her lack of biting the inside of her cheek tells Wally she's actually not about to fly off and lose it, "I've missed you. I was stuck here doing finals because I knew you'd want me to, and the few times I ever got to get to the Cave, I'd find a Bat guarding your door and bemoaning the fact all you did is sleep."

Wally does not interject that he expected Barbara's complaints would have been centered around her being bored and him being too 'protected' for her to mess with.

He leans back in his chair and has a liberal bite of his scone; the pleased sound that comes out of his mouth does not go unnoticed by Artemis.

Her smirk is just another thing to ground him, prove he's home.

* * *

(May 12, 2016, 12:30 PM)

The cafe is located next to a pizza place, one Wally had always been fond of. He shuffles Artemis into the air conditioned building and takes up a booth they used to frequent weekly.

A public place isn't the ideal location for some of the more serious topics they're eventually going to broach and deal with in their way, but it is an excellent place for Wally to start preening and waving pictures of Dawn at Artemis, who had once reflected he'd be the friend-parent if they ever had kids.

He loves proving her right.

"You make it sound like I've never met her before," Artemis comments and swats the phone away from the drink it nearly knocked over.

"You have?"

"Yeah. Occasionally I've even babysat her and Lian together."

"Who's Lian?"

Artemis suddenly smiles, more than a little wicked and asks, "No one told you, did they?"

"Of course they did; I'm asking for fun."

"Wally, Wally, Wally, you are in the presence of the world's most fantastic aunt. Lian's my niece."

"Jade had a kid?" (On an unrelated note, Wally is immensely grateful for the fact there is no Bat or camera happy new generation super hero to take a photo of his flabbergasted face.)

"Well, Roy had to help."

Wally passes out.

A minute later, an unimpressed Artemis, coupled with the smell of burning sauce, rouses him.

"I'm not sure if it would have been better to tell you when you were drinking. Then all we'd have to worry about is you choking and not how little your scrambled, fried brain needed that introduction to the floor."

"How!"

Artemis doesn't miss a beat, "Well, when my psychotic female sister and a moody male archer stop hating the other for long enough..."

"Gwah! No, not like that. I'm surprised they're still together."

"They even got married. Roy will be randomly checking in on you eventually. Jade's the one more likely to bring Lian somewhere dangerous, so maybe Roy will introduce you to her because he can actually have her brought to a safe location for once."

"How dangerous?"

Artemis just pats his hand and ignores the question.

"I can not wait for this kid to grow up. You have no idea," Artemis had always been surprisingly good with what few children she and Wally encountered, but, in this case, Wally can only imagine what her direct influence could possibly add to the child of Roy and Jade.

He's equal parts petrified and awestruck.

* * *

(May 12, 2016, 7:30 PM)

He leaves Artemis after dinner to study for her last final the following day, with orders to take her out for dinner on Saturday and to be at the Cave Sunday afternoon so she could see everyone else as well.

Whatever he had been missing has slotted into place.

He strolls through the front door; unlike Gotham, Central City has not scared this community into the need of maximum security systems or even locked doors.

It is a testament to his close relationships with his friends that seeing Barbara, Dick, and Superboy taking over the living room does not automatically make him want to talk to them. He goes to the kitchen instead, grabs a water, and speeds up stairs to see no Allen or Allen-West in sight.

He sighs; they would use Dawn for nefarious purposes and not invite him. Those same purposes seem to have been orchestrated by Babs and Dick, judging by how much amusement they were getting at Superboy trying to hold the squirming Dawn, who automatically settled whenever Dick took her back for a moment.

She is learning too quickly.

"So why were my relatives crazy enough to leave you with their precious child?"

"Because we babysit for free?" Barbara replies, eyes not really straying from how Dick is correcting Superboy on how to hold Dawn.

"Are you genuinely being sweet or is there something evil going on?"

"You deserve whatever we do for asking stupid questions." She's in too good a mood to do anything but lightly swat at him as he passes her by to collect his cousin.

"Superboy! You'll actually tell me the truth. What's up?"

Superboy almost eagerly hands Dawn off, falling back onto his own couch, far away from Barbara. "We wanted to check up on you," he replies, blandly.

"And you all claim not to love me." (Wally is so shameless, he doesn't even bother hiding his grin.)

"The only reason I have not gotten up to hit you is because you are holding a small child. When said small child is put down, your face will make indents in the pillow."

Dick, who has remained silent this entire conversation, nudges Wally slightly, standing next to him to wave a miniature stuffed bat in the air, much to Dawn's joy.

"When did she get that?"

"About an hour ago," Barbara comments as Dick and Superboy look away. "We've been here for a few hours. Unfortunately for me, Dick and SB decided that raiding a toy story was more important that getting her settled for a nap. You don't want to know how many bags are in the closet inside the nursery."

"Babs!"

"Traitor!"

"Why didn't you guys take me with you? I have nearly three months of spoiling to catch up on."

"Is buying her a toy store too much? Because it's going to be another decade before Bruce becomes a grandfather," Dick muses out loud.

"Guys! You can't actually buy her a toy store or anything extreme like that. Please tell me I'm not the only one who understands that."

Babs groans into a cushion when no one meets her eyes.

Wally laughs the longest and easily dodges that same cushion being thrown at his head, Babs aim dead on despite not looking at him.

For a second, he can pretend that he didn't actually disappear for two years, didn't force this wonderful group of people and all those associated with them, to mourn him.

It's nice.

* * *

(May-July 2016)

The rest of the month passes with various reunions and feelings Wally expects will finally force his heart to beat out of his chest: Roy, who did bring Lian and appreciated the fact Wally quickly adored her as well, Uncle Hal, back from Oa and arguably more excited than Uncle Barry had been upon seeing him for the first time, his parents, who he faced with Artemis on his left and Dick on his right, and even Bruce, who he didn't need to see in person to know just how pleased he actually was, and not solely because of how gleeful Babs and Dick were.

Wally knew Bat-Daddy loved him too, even if he wouldn't say it.

And it's tempting fate to proclaim that life went on, but it did. Wally eventually stopped needing to go to the Cave for monitoring and brainwaves, instead going to corrupt Beast Boy (like he needed help) and silently judge La'gann with him (he's loyal damn it; Superboy is getting closer and closer to telling him what actually happened).

Blue Beetle finally explained what his armor was doing to him, and Wally often made an amazing distraction when people would start looking at Blue oddly. Wonder Girl stopped looking at him with stars in her eyes, hero worship shifting to Artemis upon her visits and instead looking at Wally like someone would an older sibling they would admit to loving in public (Dick and Wally alternated between denying and accepting that part of their relationship).

Robin, who he would learn was Tim, had a wicked sense of humor and played the perfect straight guy when he himself wasn't shaking his head at Dick behind his back. (As a newly minted older sibling, he knew he wasn't supposed to play favorites, but Timmy was rapidly reaching Beast Boy levels of favoritism after taking one look at his brother dancing and muttering to Wally, "Dick still thinks he's a special snowflake in the positive way.")

Hell, he was even taking a few summer classes and online ones just so he could get into a few of the upper level science classes (and Artemis even went so far as to let him crash at his old place, where, must like the West-Allen household, most of his things had been packed away quietly but not forgotten).

Overall, he got to live his life and found himself happy and moving on from the loss of two years.

So, of course, the world decided enough of that and said, "Hey, let's figure out why Cadmus wanted you in the first place by letting them taking you again."

Wonderful.

* * *

(July 28, 2016, 8:15 AM)

Wally wakes up in his bed in Central City, no difference from the norm except the fact both Dick and Superboy were in the room as well, Superboy there for the first time in July and Dick for his weekly check-up overnight sleepover (Wally, in return, found himself at Wayne Manor every other week).

Superboy shifts slightly as he leaves the room, Dick no motion at all. Before he goes downstairs, he does his customary check on Dawn, who wakes up while he's there and starts getting fussy. Wally no longer worries over the fact she may not survive the next hour in his care, easily changing her diaper while crooning a random pop song (he looks over his shoulder to make sure no one can hear him do it).

Dawn goes back to sleep, and Wally admittedly should have been less surprised to find Dick leaning against the doorway, who responds to Wally's questioning look by telling him, "I woke up to you singing Katy Perry at her. Clearly, Iris will be the one to teach her good musical taste. I don't want to think about the Midwestern country music Barry will inflict on her."

"Remember when you thought I was dead, and you were nice to me? Why can't we go back to that? I liked you more then."Wally doesn't instinctively want to slam his head on the wall by reminding Dick of that. For his part, Dick no longer looks shaken or sucker punched when it comes up. They still haven't talked about everything, but Wally knows the gist of just how _bad_ Dick got, how worried he made their family, both Bat and Team.

The knowledge makes life a little less stressful, which Wally appreciates (he also secretly loves the fact he's getting so caught up by what he's missed. Beast Boy in particular has tacked pop culture with unnatural aplomb).

Everyone is happy, and life is good. Wally can't help but smile as the three of them wave goodbye to Aunt Iris and Dawn and go their separate ways.

His day will be made even further if he can just ace that test.

* * *

(July 30, 2016, 4:30 AM)

It is Iris who first realizes something is wrong. Wally, because he knows better than to make any of them worry, usually phones is at some point, even if they already know where he is, just because he's _Wally_ and knows how much he'd appreciate it if the roles were reversed (Superboy's multiple lectures had sunk in somehow).

On the night of July 28, the Allen-West house phone and respective cell phones are silent. Barry tries to reassure Iris; it had been a Thursday, where Wally had his hardest class and more often than not slept over in Palo Alto with Artemis. In fact, he had a tendency to crash as soon as his last class ended and sleep until late night, when he would leave a message.

On July 29, they wake up to no message. Barry takes the day off from work and starts calling in the troops. Dick arrives almost instantly, setting up camp in their living room and talking to possibly every Bat possible. He doesn't tell them about taking it too far, especially when they realize no one has heard from Wally since yesterday morning. Hacked phone records show no outgoing calls either.

Artemis arrives a few hours later with more troubling news: Wally hadn't been at her place the night before.

Iris frowns deeply at that and attempts, yet again, to call Wally; the other option was throwing her phone at the window, which would lead to broken glass and a crushed flower bed.

Barry heads to the League and look for potential leads and inform everyone to be on the Wally West hunt. Batgirl and Robin come shortly after noon, dragging Dick into a corner of the room, radiating fury and concern. One goes off to alert the Team and the other update Batman, but Iris can't find it in her to care which is doing what.

The end of the day leaves them with no more information about Wally's whereabouts and about a dozen concerned heroes and sidekicks ready to be let loose on the world to tear it apart. Iris likes that plan.

She and Barry, who is somehow keeping it together for her, get a few hours of sleep between calls and watching over Dawn, who, despite Jay and Joan's offer to take her, is being kept under her mother's watchful eyes and hands. Superboy shares her same opinion, along with Nightwing, who make sure she is never left alone.

It's the end of the night when Barry wakes her up and gently tugs her into the kitchen, where a grim faced Batman and a bereft, shell shocked Nightwing wait.

The folders on the table are labeled with various names and descriptions, but the most common one is Cadmus.

Within a few minutes, Iris understands why her husband lost all his color at the name.

* * *

(July 30, 2016, 4:35 AM)

Wally wakes up with each arm and leg shackled to a wall, technology too advanced to vibrate through. He doesn't stay awake for long.

* * *

_**Alright, time for my extremely long spilling of emotions that are somewhat relevant to this story.**_

_**Future Updates: **__This story will have its last 2 chapters finished by the end of the month so wooooooo for that. The next chapter will come out at some point next weekish. I've heard some extremely frightening things over the next episode so depending on if everything goes to hell, there may be a few one-shots coming out before the next chapter of this or my other story, Grow to Love Secrecy. _

_So writing this, I needed to go back and figure out whether or not I had ever actually come out and said how Wally died. Good to know I was thinking ahead, past me. Explosion. Nice and vague. And as for this cliffhanger, sorry! Most of the next chapter will focus on everyone else gearing up for war to bring him home (coughhappyendingcough). Even though this is one of the shorter chapters, I think this is much better than the last. I hope.  
_

_D__epending on how long the action and drama of next chapter play out, it will either be one chapter or get divided into two. After that will come the epilogue (and for many of you who I've responded to through PM, you know a few different characters will pop up among other things.) So eight or nine chapters will be it. _

_**Now, my feelings for Bloodlines: **__I love everyone and everything. So much it makes me weep. You should have seen me replaying the episode on repeat. Bart is amazing and once these two stories are finished I have one planned for him with a healthy dose of Tim Drake (who appeared!) Lian is so her parents' daughter, and I want to reach into the television screen and HUG her. Or steal her. And real Roy appeared while clone Roy got hot again! The entire Flash family makes me have so many feelings, all of them good except for the implications of Wally being slower now. My face when I found out Dawn was actually being used as the name was shocked (on a related note, I knew she was a twin but figured, yeah, right, like they're actually going to stick with that, and I had plans to bring her brother into the epilogue.)__Everything about that episode was special and it has a place on my favorite episode list, if I had one. I could go on forever about it, I really could. I need to stop. But before I do, seriously, Dick taking down Impulse was amazing and the entire scene in Central City I'm still spazzing about. Oh, and everyone is freaking out about this crash the mode thing, but I was so Flash happy I didn't realize the villains had even said it, making it a part of a conspiracy? Impulse is staying so I don't care. Oh final mention, Bart's joke about history being unclear about why Speedy is called Speedy made me giggle. _

_SPOILERS! And again, next episode, what I heard on a few websites, I may need tissues. And I don't mean for Artemis…I need to go find more people to freak out and hypothesize with. _

_As always, my dear reader, have a lovely day, and thank you for reading (and potentially reviewing).  
_


	7. Set You Apart

**Title: We Were Once Perfect (7/8)**

**Warnings:** Potential spoilers for entire series and future episodes (yay head-canon ideas and guesswork!) Oh, and character death, both true and assumed.

WALLY IS BACK AND IT IS A GLORIOUS THING.

_**Note: Hello lovelies, here's the penultimate chapter of We Were Once Perfect; I don't know how I feel yet, mostly shock and the relief I still have one more chapter to write. Once again, I'd like to thank you all for the kind reviews and the fact you're even reading this in the first place. I love you all. Also, I am so so apologetic that this took so long to get out, especially two weeks late. This is the longest chapter for this story, at over 9100 words, so I hope this can begin to make up for how long I took to get it out.  
**_

_This is based off the wonderful __**Ally Marton's**__ prompt: Wally supposedly dies in a mission, but somehow he comes back to the team years later, as Wally, not some Cadmus clone or traitor. How does the team (both old and new) react? The things she definitely wanted were the team actually thinking Wally had been dead for years and them happily going mental getting him back. I took that basic prompt and further elaborated to make it a story of Wally (__and technically us with this time skip__) coming to terms with everything that changed.  
_

_And yet again, I hope I delivered, and I hope you all enjoy this as much as I did writing it._

_Further Note: There's a lot of back and forth over a few dates, so for clarity's sake, Barbara and Wally in August, flashbacks in July.  
_

_Title taken from the Automatic Loveletter song, Hush. _

_Remember, reviews are my lifeblood. Check end of story for about a billion more__** notes**__._

_Disclaimer: I don't own any of this, at all, DC and respective creators do. (Although I like to think my Batgirl is a little extra special and canon.)  
_

**Summary:** 2016 spoilers. After two years, Wally faces a long road back home. Fortunately, the Team is there to get him up to speed. Or, where Wally corrupts new members, Nightwing snarks, the new generation kidnaps, and Batgirl's the biggest BAMF of all.

* * *

(August 1, 2016, 12:35 PM)

There's a far too bright light piercing into Wally's brain, despite his eyelids' best attempts at protection. He groans, and throws an arm over said eyes for good measure.

He sighs, and decides now is a perfectly acceptable time to pass out.

Or, he would have, if someone hadn't viciously kicked him in the leg.

"Ow!"

"That was a love-tap," Batgirl cheerfully tells him, leaning back in a chair with her feet propped up at the foot of the bed.

The hospital bed. Damn it! Oh, wait, hold on...

"Hey! I'm alive!" Wally goes to raise his hands in victory, but stops suddenly, "And in so much pain."

"That's to be expected," Babs sighs and sympathetically pats his leg. Barbara is wonderful, no claims otherwise, but her first order of business is to usually rebuke and analyze the injured, both to let them know what they did wrong, and to get her own worries out of the way. This silence and gentleness (yes, her kick could have been harder) frightens Wally to the core.

He swallows, vision swimming slightly, and asks,"So what exactly happened?" For all he knows, Wally's confusion could be caused by a head injury or just general grogginess, but Babs looks too preoccupied and relieved to tell him one over the other.

She smiles, suddenly, but not one of her 'pretty' ones. "Well, like all of our stories, it starts with you being an _idiot_ whose sole purpose in life is to force me into panic mode every moment of every day and ends with me and our merry band of unrestrained brawlers saving you life. Again."

Wally's eye roll does not go unnoticed but Babs graciously ignores it. "Can someone else tell me? You've got the ragey 'I'm going to kill you for this' thing going on and I just came back from what feels like a decade long coma...it wasn't, right? Because two years was enough."

Barbara makes sure to hit Wally in an unbruised piece of flesh before answering, "Blame yourself. You could have woken up when someone else was guarding your bedside, like Dick, or Artemis, but alas, you came up under my watch which means I own you until someone takes you back. Now shut up for my story. And it's been a weekend."

When Wally opens his mouth to protest, he gets a fiercely raised eye-brow in return, and sinks back into the pillows.

"That's what I though."

* * *

(July 30, 2016, 8:15 AM)

Wonder Girl nearly yanks the door off the hinges, eager to make her way to the booth in the back of the diner, where two normal looking boys and a vibrant green one have taken over a table, papers spread across the entire surface, often anchored down by various cups, forks, and what, in Beast Boy's case, seems to literally be a full coffee pot. Cassie slides next to Blue Bettle, settles her own drink on a wayward picture of the Cadmus logo, and decides not to ask.

She's obviously entered the conversation more than half-way through, although the topic is quickly established.

"He did not," Beast Boy shakes his head before dropping it dramatically on the table in front of him. "We just got him back a few months ago."

Robin doesn't bother looking up from the notes and files he has scattered across his sequestered part of the table, only wryly comments, "Denial."

Wonder Girl raises her eyebrow and halts, mid-sip of her iced mocca, but doesn't comment upon Blue Beetle shaking his head next to her.

"Why him? Why God? It's not fair or right!" Beast Boy semi-growls, head momentarily shifting to something akin to a wolf.

Again, Robin pipes up with, "Anger," and flips a page before liberally highlighting something.

Blue just keeps staring at them, somewhat impassively. Wonder Girl might now be the sanest one on the island.

"I'd give up all of the souvenirs and first season profits of my reality show. Come on!" Wonder Girl moves her drink slightly to avoid Beast Boy's tail.

Robin just slams a fist down on an air-borne piece of paper before muttering, "Bargaining."

"No, we can not do that!" Blue shouts, randomly, at her left, momentarily distracting her from a whine from Beast Boy, one that had Robin calmly exchanging files while levelly mentioning, "Depression."

Two duckies are out of the running to answer her questions, and she is far too concerned and _heart-sick_ to debate Jaime and his evil sideshow partner as the lesser of two evils, the other being ignorance.

"What are they doing?"

Blue looks momentarily confused for her sake before explaining, "This is one of their little rituals; I keep forgetting you've never seen them before in panic mode."

"The alien invasion wasn't good enough?"

"That's different and you know it," Blue struggles for a second and looks to be physically biting back words, but he settles down quickly enough, "Look, none of us are handling Kid Flash's capture in any way but anger, revenge, panic, and how ever we describe what Nightwing and that Artemis girl are going through. Them being them keeps it all in perspective. If they weren't acting like this, keeping to routine and normal, I don't know what I'd do, much less them."

Wonder Girl pauses, and during their silence, she hears Robin flatly say, "Bargaining."

"Are you guys going in a cycle of the five stages of grief?"

Beast Boy looks affronted, and Robin doesn't look at her at all, except for a quick glance before he goes to scribble on a document.

"No, it is the four stages of panic. This is not something we're _accepting_," Beast Boy spits the word before continuing, waving his arms and nearly knocking over the coffee pot, "We're all going to bring him home because he is not allowed to do this again."

"And then we're going to destroy the people who took him," Robin adds, viciously, with no timid shadow of doubt, just pure and simple fact, no argument.

Cassie, frightened friend, and Wonder Girl, ready to bash more than her fair share of skulls in, raises her glass.

* * *

(August 1, 2016, 12:58 PM)

"So, your little chickadees lost their minds with grief. This is almost why we worried about the impact you would have on them. So young and impressionable, and you are where they flock to. Well, that's not entirely true, Robin and Beast Boy are the little brothers, Superboy almost gets personally offended on behalf of Blue Beetle, and I've decided to teach Wonder Girl how to be amazing, but that's not really the point I was going for. They all adore you. Cassie and, unashamedly, Beast Boy got teary-eyed, Blue Beetle started swearing in Spanish, and, um, Robin, he said, "No, just no," and walked out of the Cave before he could lecture Dick about letting you go out on your own and how well that worked."

"You guys realize I'm an adult, right?"

"No, I think we all missed that over the years."

* * *

(July 30, 2016, 8:15 AM)

Artemis carefully lines up another arrow and sends it soaring through the air, hitting the target dead-on.

She's banned everyone from this specific training room, although both Nightwing, briefly, and Miss Martian, long enough to force her into eating a sandwich the day before, ignore that decree.

One other person does as well, if the arrow with the red tip cutting jaggedly into the mock target is anything to go by.

"Go. Away." She's proud of herself for the level voice and aim. If it takes her an extra one and a half seconds to let an arrow go, that is no one's business but her own, and she is handling it remarkably well.

"Any news yet?" Roy steamrolls over her command, unsurprisingly, and hits his own target, quicker than she had.

"Ask Nightwing. He's somewhere else. As in, not here. In this room. Bye-Bye."

Most in-laws would fear her, but Roy's always been the one to threaten her first, so she should be less surprised that he is, in his way, blithely ignoring her order. She knows this is his attempt to goad her into talking, and damn it, that does little to stop her from falling into his plot. The bastard.

"We'll get him back, Artemis," and she is so close to slapping him for using the Lian voice on her, she really is.

"And if we don't?" Three arrows into three separate points in rapid succession.

"We will." Oh, the Speedy confidence, where they finally found the non-clone (who took a shine to _Wally_, if she can remember correctly-they finally found him in late June, well Roy and Jade did, and lo and behold, _Wally_ losing two years made him the perfect bonding buddy. Artemis is not cruel enough to bring him into this, but the idea lingers all the same. He would have known how to approach the topic without the prickly feeling she tends to bring).

The next arrow misses the target wide as she turns to Roy and whispers, "I just want him back. And to maim Cadmus. But that can be second priority."

A hand rests on her shoulder, and neither one of them comments on how shaky her sigh is before she collects herself and sends three more arrows into the target, all matching a beat for beat chant in her head that goes Wally. Wally. Wally.

They'll get him back.

* * *

(August 1, 2016, 1:23 PM)

"I honestly don't know how much money was spent on the targets and arrows used by both your psuedo still technically ex-girlfriend and Red, but my best guess is that it could have fed and clothed a small army for a month."

"Wow, the property damage must have been really low key lately."

"Yeah, we're all real proud about keeping it together for five days and not causing a financial crisis. Good times, good times."

"They handled themselves so well."

"And with that awkward segue, let me tell you about the nightmare Dick was and still is."

* * *

(July 30, 2016, 8:15 AM)

There's no other way to say it: she pulled the short straw, and Tim's look as he escaped with Beast Boy and Blue Beetle in tow will haunt her to her dying day.

If this goes horribly, he doesn't get to have any of her cool toys.

Dick's been _on_ constantly, going into a very Bruce place that they need to get him out of. Now. She must not be the only one clued into this, as she enters the room in the Hall of Justice Dick, Batman, and the Flash have made their own and sees both Miss Martian and Superboy facing Nightwing as well. Alright, Miss Martian is the only one on her page; Superboy is just coincidentally looking at him momentarily, between vicious swipes at a punching bag in the corner of the room, most likely placed there by Superman or even one of the Green Lanterns in an attempt to keep the fist sized holes out of the columns. Wolf is curled up near a table with a computer (_come to mama_), occasionally kicking out in his sleep.

"Did you learn anything from the suspects in holding?" Dick sounds tense, even for a Bat.

"No, they check out, didn't even know he was taken. Too low level," M'gann replies, frustrated.

"Batman and the Flash have gone to hunt down a potential lead; we'll let you know if it pans out."

"Understood." Miss Martian turns on her heel and tries to grin at Batgirl as she goes, but it's closer to a flat grimace than anything else.

Superboy follows her out with his eyes, startles slightly when he notices Babs, and goes back to beating the punching bag. It's probably for the best.

"Any news?" Barbara calls out, sliding next to Wolf's table and nudging him slightly with her foot.

"Not yet. We did get data to triangulate the positions of a few remaining Cadmus strongholds."

The bag hits the column and Superboy calls out, "I thought they went legit years ago!"

"They did," Dick sighs, tearing his eyes away from a data pad, "Extremist faction that's kept quiet, but alive. They're the ones who were in control of the warehouse we found Wally in the first time."

"You sure about that?" Barbara asks, clicking on the case file from locating Wally months ago.

"We may or may not have had M'gann scan Lex Luthor without permission," Superboy calls out, and then avoids her eyes when she turns to glower at him.

"Why wasn't I invited? And I thought that was a big 'No, No,No' for you." The bite of her words mellows slightly on the word you.

"We'd have had to bash his head in to get the information and would have been discovered. That's why," Dick answers for him.

"Speak for yourself," Babs huffs at him before looking at Superboy again.

"It's for Wally. He's a reason to cross the line," Superboy tells her, and there's nothing she can say in disagreement.

Wally's name seems to draw all life and emotion out of Dick, as he stops paying attention to their conversation and remotely focuses on his readings, whatever they may be. Nothing Barbara says really gets a response, and if it weren't for the computer in front of her, she might give into slamming her head against the desk, because it would be a hell of a lot less painful than handling her own emotions and whatever Superboy and Dick were carrying.

A phone rings, and Dick doesn't bother to spare her a glance as he leaves the room to take the call.

God, she's going to kill Tim for being adorable and pitiful when they decided who would monitor the different Team members.

* * *

(July 30, 2016, 11:45 AM)

Wally wakes up, yet again, both wrists and ankles seemingly attached to the hospital bed he is now in; the only thing he can notice, in the small, all white room, is the IV drip in his arm, and a sharp needle that goes into his neck.

He's unconscious within a minute.

* * *

(July 30, 2016, 3:35 PM)

Dick's learned to accept and tolerate waiting after a decade with Bruce, but he's never _liked_ it, or even _dealt_ with it as well as Bruce and, surprisingly, Tim have.

Therefore, he only feels a slight amount of shame as he paces outside the room M'gann, Batman, and her uncle, along with two seemingly normal, bland 'former' members of Cadmus are in. Can't control himself in his own workspace. Yeah, right, Bruce. (So right. _Painfully right_.)

Secret: He was the one they brought the punching bag in for. Conner, exceptionally human and bright, loudly made it his own while getting to watch over Dick during the quiet moments when he would have been alone. A shallow part of him can now understand Wally's complaints over being babysat, but this incident will do little to change either his behavior or Superboy's.

His self-control has been hanging on by a very thin, tenuous wire. Even before Wally fake-died, he had a tendency to want to fix and protect. He's only gotten worse with age, Tim, and Wally's return. It's automatic by this point, the sheer need to loyally defend. (Later on, with Wally safe and sound, Dick will muse that he and Conner can make their own fortune teaching a class on the subject. Wally will look vaguely horrified.)

Something's been lodged in his throat since he disappeared, since they found the evidence of Cadmus, and all he wants is for it to go away. For Wally to make it disappear.

When the door opens up to M'gann beaming and waving him inside excitedly, the cold grip on his heart and lungs loosens up.

* * *

(July 30, 2016, 5:15 PM)

Before _everyone_ gathers back at base to understand the plan of attack, he finds Barbara in the Cave's kitchen to tell her the news.

(Conner impulsively hugged him and Miss M upon finding out, and Artemis nearly broke down in relief-well, as much as she could break down in front of a group of people who haven't been on missions where she hunkered down in the fettle position. She paused for a moment and was slightly off target with her next arrow but hit dead center next time, despite Dick's teasing and Roy's knowing grin. She trusts him and even breaks her impressive poker face to have a wavering smile sent his way.)

Barbara, because she is a true believer and able to function in society when her best friend cannot, cheerfully socks him in the chin, lightly, and tells him everything will be fine. He's starting to have faith in that. ("Are you starting to feel the aster too?" "Shut up.")

Then again, Barbara is always ready to handle anything thrown her way, but works better, and has taught Wonder Girl to work better, with a target to be frustrated at.

"So, we organize the troops, sic them on the enemy, and bring the male red-headed wonder home. Good day."

"You're strangely optimistic about this," and that is something that should concern Nightwing as much as it does.

"I want Wally back just as much as you do, well, almost, you two have that whole platonic life-partner, get our kids married and then terrorize the neighborhood when we're elderly thing going on. But, me wringing my hands and just staring at the same files you, Bruce, and Tim have isn't going to help, especially with our resident telepath doing the heavy lifting on this one," she pauses momentarily, and if the next few sentences sound slightly pinched, Dick is not foolish enough to comment on them, "I am keeping everything in perspective, because you're too compromised, Superboy doesn't know the meaning of the word when he's bloodthirsty, and Tim utterly failed at keeping him and the Warriors Three collected and calm. He and Beast Boy are still doing the four stages of grief. I thought you were supposed to get that trained out of them."

Dick blinks. "Do you feel better letting that out?"

"Yes, yes I do," she responds calmly, and then uses her freakishly strong gazelle legs to kick him, even with the distance between them.

* * *

(July 30, 2016, 6:00 PM)

"We're getting him back, we're getting him back, we're getting him back," Beast Boy shakes Blue's arm momentarily before shifting his attention to Nightwing, who he only manages not to lunge at for a hug because of a well placed foot on his tail, curtsey of Robin, who is busy simultaneously fielding Wonder Girl's question of 'what stage is this?'

"Well, Beast Boy is with the program. And completely rational," Batgirl comments, never idly, and sends a dark look at Robin, who ably ignores it for a moment before shrugging his shoulders and looking sincerely apologetic (a skill Jaime is going to steal to see if it works on his madre because he _needs_ something like that in his arsenal).

He, BB, Robin, and Wonder Girl (because he was raised better and knows not to call her Blunder Girl as a nickname!) form their own intimidating (yeah, ha) posse with Batgirl (now they are) away from the zeta-beams that are steadily trickling in both Team and Justice League members. Blue is only vaguely curious to know why a Green Lantern is around, but if it's for Wally, then he supports this additional aid. Zatanna and Rocket are much more easily explained.

"Come on Batgirl! Just some details about the daring rescue I'm going to be writing about in my biography for millions of dollars. Give me the inside scoop. I'm impatient and cute," Beast Boy grins hopefully at Batgirl, who Blue assumes knows all of the details Nightwing called them in for.

Wonder Girl is beside him, pretending not to listen into the conversation, although he gently pulls her back as she starts leaning forward for listening purposes to the point of nearly tipping over.

Robin doesn't comment on them, although warns BB not to "Poke the bear, because she will eat you."

Personally, Jaime thinks her answering grin is more along the lines of a shark.

With a whistle, Nightwing gets everyone's attention focused back on him, and Mal, standing in the center of the room, monitors flickering to life all around them.

"Due to Miss Martian's interrogation, we've learned the splinter group of Cadmus has called in all members to one base, outside of Portland, Oregon. This is where we will find Kid Flash." Blue Beetle is momentarily distracted from Nightwing's plan as he hears Robin's sigh over the inevitable "Are we there yet?" jokes Beast Boy will make on the trip. They aren't trained well enough to avert that disaster.

"Priority one is to get Kid Flash back, alive. The second is to clear out the stronghold. Local officers coordinating with the Green Lantern will be waiting for our signal to go in and collect the organization members. The Flash will be waiting for successful extraction of Kid Flash; he'll take him away as soon as we have confirmation and a clear shot to do so."

"Like always, Mal will stay at the Cave to coordinate the Teams. Alpha, comprised of myself, Superboy, Miss Martian, Artemis, and Zatanna will go in first, from the southwest side. On our signal, Beta, led by Red Arrow with Wonder Girl, Blue Beetle, Robin, and Beast Boy will hit the northeast. Batgirl, you'll be on Beta, but your primary function outside of that is data recovery. Lagoon Boy, due to their access of a local river, you're on guard to watch the docks to prevent a potential escape with the target. Bumblebee, Rocket, you're aerial support. Blue Beetle will join you if needed." Actually, if Blue Beetle gets his hands on whoever took Wally, he may be delayed on that order. Fair warning.

"Justice League members, Lagoon Boy, and Bumblebee will zeta-beam down to Portland once the Bio-ship carrying Alpha and Beta is in proximity. Make sure the Flash and the rest of the League are on standby before you go," Nightwing mentions, looking straight at Zatanna and the Green Lantern. "We leave at seven, so be prepared." Nightwing, flanked by Superboy and Miss M on his left and the two archers on his right, leaves the room, followed shortly after by the aforementioned League members that depart the Cave.

"So, that was open for negotiations and questions," Batgirl comments, before following down the hallway Nightwing left through.

Wonder Girl cracks her knuckles. "This will be fun."

She scares him, sometimes. And awes him. But that's a different story.

* * *

(July 30, 2016, 11:30 PM)

An hour outside of Portland, Barbara slides up to him, having hunted him down in the ship's cargo area.

"How, exactly, do you know so much from two ordinary foot soldiers? And much more importantly, where to find them? I mean, M'gann is the obvious answer to the first question, but all of the tactical weaknesses we could exploit are well above the pay grade of the idiots she mind-read." Dick recognizes the look on her face, one reminiscent of when she first decided to become Batgirl without their permission and that they couldn't stop her.

"It wouldn't have anything to do with the phone calls you kept making outside of your set-up in the Hall of Justice, right?"

Damn.

"Not like you kept in monitoring range of the best hacker this side of Batman. Oh, wait a minute, you did."

Double damn.

"And then there's the curious issue of no debate while we were given mission orders, or the fact you fled the room the second you finished."

She knows.

"How are you going to explain your way out of this one, Grayson?"

He's not. So he tells her everything. They're ten minutes away from the hide out, and she's walking away, smug over what will become an impressive bruise on his arm.

* * *

(August 1, 2016, 2:58 PM)

"You could sound a little less proud over figuring it out, I'm going to just tell you that straight out. And stop abusing my best friend."

"No."

* * *

(July 31, 2016, 12:45 AM)

Wally thought he had gotten out of the theme of coming to in hospital beds. Previous him could not have been further off the mark. It's tragic, really. But, they've got him on the best drugs ever if the hallucination of Kaldur is anything to go by.

"Hey, former buddy. What up? You here to kill me?" There's a faint clinking noise, and Wally finds himself unshackled from the bed.

"I'm not here to kill you, Wally," Kaldur responds, in that patient way Wally remembers taking comfort in, as he manhandles Wally into a wheelchair.

"We have a lot to do if we're going to get you to Nightwing unharmed," a small quirk of his lips, "Or relatively unharmed."

"Dick's coming? Awesomeness. Awesomeness."

"I'm relieved to see you haven't changed."

"Dude, I didn't but you did. What happened man?" And maybe it's the drugs, or the fact Wally's mind is picturing him getting taken out of the room by said wheelchair, but the vertigo is killing him, making it impossible to see the grimace that flashes across Kaldur's face.

"We'll talk about it when the mission is completed. Now, be quiet while I get you away from the room set to detonate."

Wally's asleep, yet again, during the middle of the sentence.

* * *

(July 31, 2016, 1:15 AM)

Artemis normally understands where Dick comes from, at least half of the time. This is not one such time.

"You know, Nightwing, when you told us we were going in from the southwest side, I expected a door, or a window. Not a room set to explode and a hole in the wall. Just so you know," Artemis mouths off as she steps over fallen debris.

"I don't think hacking the motion sensors will help, either," Superboy adds.

Nightwing ignores them both while Miss Martian hovers in the air nearby, scanning for oncoming soldiers.

"We're in the clear."

"No, we're not. There used to be a room here. Someone will notice," Artemis is the day's designated point of sanity.

"Actually," and Dick looks away briefly, "we've determined the group is too far underground to be able to react promptly to this attack.

"Then why did we do it?" Superboy asks for her, and she could kiss him for being as confused as she is, she really could.

"Collection."

And, out through the formerly flaming wreckage, mysteriously dosed with water almost immediately, come Wally, passed out in a wheelchair. Kaldur follows out, and before Artemis can even register the shock and relief, Superboy has lunged, pinning Kaldur against a particularly sturdy pillar of steel.

"Nightwing, now would be a good time to explain," Zatanna comments from Artemis's right (and Artemis vows, there and then, that if Z knew anything and didn't tell her, she would not be her future maid of honor. Fucking vows. And she'll shoot her).

"Z, teleport him to the Flash for medical help, and rendezvous with Beta."

Artemis slaps Zatanna's hand and sends her a look before hurrying over to where Wally's wheelchair rests at Nightwing's side. It's a little silly, and she knows it, but Artemis doesn't think she could have let him go without making sure he's actually breathing, that it is her Wally. And it is. She kisses his cheek and nods at Zatanna, who, with a nod from Nightwing as well, has both herself and Wally out of there.

"Nightwing?" Miss M calls out, gesturing to the two other men facing off, and Artemis knows she has a similar suspicious look on her face.

"Did I neglect to tell everyone that Aqualad was secretly my spy on the inside to take his dad and the Light down during the alien invasion? And that he used his resources to infiltrate this ex-part of Cadmus, which led to us finding Wally in the first place?" Dick asks, all charm, and Artemis literally lets go her bow. Miss Martian drops the foot she's been hovering off the ground, and Superboy is gaping like a fish, fists still ready to fly.

Sadly enough, this is still one of the more peaceful times the original six have had together.

Kaldur sighs for all of them and reminds them they're still on a mission.

At least one of them is still keeping their eye on the prize. The return of Wally and this reveal made it impossible for it to be her.

Yay, teamwork.

* * *

(July 31, 2016, 1:30 AM)

Nostalgia is bombarding Robin as he walks through the empty, abandoned warehouse, yet again looking for a secret passage, and no, the cliche is not lost on him, but he's from Gotham, and that's how they roll (words from Barbara, sarcastically neutered by him).

It's mainly quiet, the creaking building making most of the noise, although Blue is a reassuring presence covering his back. Much to Robin's relief, and as a true testament to just how worried he is, Beast Boy stopped humming the _Mission Impossible_ theme as soon as they has arrived at their source of entrance, an unpopulated holding bay, although he immediately grabbed Blue and left BB to Wonder Girl just in case. Batgirl is almost plastered against the large door they entered through, near frantically pressing buttons on her mini-computer, hacking to her heart's content and occasionally narrowing down where in the building the trigger control is. Alpha is having no luck on their quiet end as well.

At one point, Batgirl randomly starts humming, and Tim's not sure if it's because she's found this a joyful challenge, or she just got blackmail material from the security cams under her control.

"Does anyone have anything yet?" Beast Boy's voice resonates in Tim's brain but before he can respond, Batgirl's voice takes over with an order to get out of the loading dock and to enter the hallway on the opposite side of the room.

* * *

(August 1, 2016, 2:58 PM)

"Wow, Babs, this is boring."

"I'll slap someone in a hospital bed."

"I know."

"Fine, long, _boring_ story short..."

"Gonna pay for that one la-OW!"

"Don't interrupt me. Fake-Cadmus runs on the same bag of tricks, so, I traced the radio signals to, and I kid you not, an office where we had to pull books off a shelf to have the floor open up to an elevator."

"How traumatic."

"It was, because Alpha joined us there, and Beast Boy found it wildly appropriate to pelt Aqualad with books Red Arrow pushed in his direction for ease."

"Kaldur must have loved that."

"Considering Superboy was standing in front of him, yes, yes he did."

"And then?"

"And then we won. The end."

"What? Come on, Babs!"

* * *

(July 31, 2016, 3:30 AM)

They've been fighting for literal hours, ever since they arrived at the underground portion of the complex, with a combat team ready to confront the intruders.

The poor guys never stood a chance.

In fact, none of them did, between the exploding arrows, copious (thank you vocabulary final!) batarangs, and just how easy the villians themselves were to pick up and throw across the room into their friends. She and Superboy were the greatest team ever.

But, now that they've got most of the rooms in the underground lair (no, she's not making this up, the head honcho's office totally had an evil mastermind lair vibe going on), it is clear to them that one thing is still missing, a Wallace West.

And, judging by Robin's furtive looks in the rooms when he thinks they're distracted (and when he's not beating someone into submission with his bo-staff), she's not the only one to have noticed.

There's a sliver of her that resents how distracted everyone else seems to be, especially after Artemis went down due to an electric current and, when she was brought out by Nightwing, he too was injured, although he took everyone else down with him and managed to keep conscious enough to inform the medical personnel of their injuries and bark orders at the Team to keep pressing. Yeah, with a handful of guys left. Most eyes are not on the Wally West prize.

Cassie sighs, spares and extra thought for for Artemis and Nightwing, and follows Blue Beetle, who had left the file room they were looking for, only to start screaming, actually screaming, for them to come to him _right_ now.

* * *

(August 1, 2016, 3:09 PM)

"Hold it, are they alright?"

"Oh, they're fine. Dick was kind of a baby about it, you know how he gets for injuries he remains somewhat lucid for, and Artemis only has a slight burn from where the origins of the shock were, on her left leg. The only reason they aren't here waiting for you is because medical got to them hours ago and put them on forced bed rest."

"Tell me that sooner next time."

Babs looks momentarily apologetic, before she continues with her version of events.

* * *

(July 31, 2016, 3:40 AM)

Unfortunately, Blue always had a nose for trouble, Cassie thinks to herself as she gapes at the rows of pods. It's an entire room, just filled with countless isles of the glass containers, most seemingly empty, but they're hardly transparent enough for her to tell from her vantage point.

"We're not in Kansas anymore," Robin remarks, dry as can be. Fittingly, Beast Boy morphs into a small lapdog and barks at his heels.

It's the four of them now, her, Robin, Blue, and BB, the new kids, the clique, and, although she genuinely likes and appreciates (and fangirls) over everyone, her involvement in with this core group always holds a special place in her heart.

Which is why she feels it somewhat acceptable to panic, just a tiny tiny bit, and wonder how they'll find Wally in all of this.

"How are we going to find him in all of this?" Wonder Girl, on top of things since 2015.

"Divide and conquer," Robin says grimly, as he begins prioritizing parts of the room to be searched through and whether or not back-up is needed. Cassie tones him out, briefly; one day, he'll actually be a leader and take charge to people outside of their little group, but, until then, she doesn't need to worry about her role, casually rising in the air for an aerial view.

Blue follows up momentarily, taking the farthest isle, while Beast Boy's made himself into a bloodhound (is she supposed to be surprised by this turn of event?). Robin is no where to be seen, but she's well aware he's doing something she'd never consider, just to make the search easier.

The pods are all intact, but empty. The crushing wave of disappointment isn't welcome, but it doesn't blindside her like it once would have. She knows they'll find him.

A howl pierces the air, not just her brain, and Cassie winces.

"Guys! There's a body! And I think it's Wally."

Blue plummets, not drops, to the ground with a crash, and Cassie barely follows, with just a slight amount of grace. Robin, from wherever, hit the ground running and managed to beat both her and Blue.

Wally West is indeed dead on the ground outside an open pod, dead.

* * *

(August 1, 2016, 3:45 PM)

"Did you guys not tell them where I was?"

"We were trying to keep the Kaldur thing on a need to know basis."

"And they didn't need to know over my fake dead body?"

"Talk to Nightwing!"

"This is on you too, Babs. Stop scarring the kids!"

"..."

"Why do I have a fake dead body?"

"Oh, yeah, they tried to clone you."

"..."

"You didn't just actually pass out from that news, did you?"

* * *

(July 31, 2016, 3:40 AM)

When Beast Boy first started howling, two thoughts ran through Robin's mind. The first, where his heart threw itself violently from his chest, included frantic denial because he _likes_ Wally. The second, which speaks more for his brother than himself is, "Oh god, life is not worth living with Dick if Wally's dead."

He arrives at the scene, however, and disregards everything, focusing on the puzzling and _wrongwrongwrong_ task at hand.

Beast Boy has gone catatonic, Blue Beetle is no longer speaking in English, and Cassie had long since burst into silent tears as she keeps repeating to herself, "No, no, no."

They can mourn later; the crime scene isn't adding up. For one, this is a Wally West whose looks match his appearance when he first teamed up his brother, shorter and skinner, to put it mildly, along with a lack of fat and muscle tone. There are at least three scars no longer on the body or located where they had been. He could not become emaciated in such a short time, even with his accelerated metabolism.

Tim, even with his training and slightly hesitant nature, will most likely cry if this ends up being a clone thing, because they have enough of that. More than enough. It's going to be a clone thing, he _knows_ down to his bone marrow.

He gently tells everyone to compose themselves and calls for Superboy and Miss Martian in a Batman tone of voice he's made his own, much to Dick's horror and Barbara's utter delight.

In hindsight, calling just M'gann might have been the better option, just to avoid seeing the thundercloud expression dart across Superboy's face.

Batgirl gets called in immediately after, once M'gann's telepathy doesn't work; "It's like there isn't anything for me to focus on or pull information out of." She starts hacking like a champion, left the detective work and the calming down of Cassie, Gar, and Jaime to him.

A division of labor, silent and steady.

Of course, because it's Batgirl, she rapidly gets through any firewalls or anti-hacking devices left, and sheds light on just why Wally had to be taken, repeatedly.

* * *

(July 31, 7:00 PM)

Dick switches shifts of Wally guard duty with Artemis, who, despite a bandaged leg, manages to slink into the room gracefully and with minimal swearing when her injured leg accidentally bangs against Wally's hospital bed.

Tim's waiting outside the room, long out of his Robin costume, trademark sunglasses he actually wanted to wear in place.

"Well?" Dick gestures impatiently, until Tim, his _baby_ brother, unashamedly rolls his eyes and begins to walk away from this part of the Cave. Dick follows immediately after, and spends the entire trip pretending not to be amused at Tim's concern.

Like a shadow, Barbara joins them on their walk, to one of the computer rooms that Barbara has set up shop in (they had to persuade her not to bring a bed in there when she first joined the Team and saw the rows of computers and technological advancements, set up by Batman himself).

Dick can't even get his question out, yet again, before Barbara is all over it, "Speed Force."

"I've heard of that before." Vaguely, barely, maybe once by Barry and a few times as Wally complained over not knowing enough about it.

"So has Cadmus. The Speed Force is an energy force where the speedsters get their powers, among other benefits and drawbacks. They hoped to clone Wally to the point of being able to study it, most likely for profit. Due to their lack of numbers, they were never able to successfully clone him with powers in the two years they had him before. While you were in med bay, Batman and Robin went down to the holding facility and confirmed there are no living clones of Wally West."

(Thank God for that; he can barely keep a hold on the one.)

Barbara continues, although the quirk of her eyebrow shows she understands just what he had been thinking, "All files have been recovered and brought to the League to analyze, but both the current Flash and the former one looked over their research and were surprised by a lack of development in the process, most likely due to the fact they never successfully cloned a Wally with his powers."

"Does that mean they were able to clone one without them?" They should really bring Roy in here, and Conner.

"No. They got extremely close, a near perfect match, but they terminated that project about a year ago due to his lack of powers and the differences between the two."

"Alright. This is all confirmed?"

Robin speaks on behalf of Batgirl, "Somewhat, Batman and I are still going over the files Batgirl recovered, but Miss Martian has been scanning the brains of those in charge, and none of them are contradicting what we already know."

"So, it's all over?" Nightwing asks, casually.

The looks Babs and Tim send him are unimpressed and mildly disappointed.

"Yes, bird-brain, it is. Bad guys, which can we talk about how the quality of them as a whole is slipping, I mean, two years and nothing, God, I could do more in a month...they're in custody and Wally is safe." Batgirl concludes, primly, no shadow of the annoyance that colored her miniature rant.

"No, it's not. I can think of at least three members of the Team ready to revolt over keeping Wally's return a secret and letting them think he was dead." Robin adds, no trace of a smirk on his face, and Dick wants to deck him, he truly does.

"I apologized for that!"

"Not good enough," and Dick knows he's smirking on the inside, most likely one of his own, because Wally has begun rubbing off on his Timmy, and this will only lead to ruin.

On the other hand, Dick is actually fine with that.

* * *

(August 1, 2016, 5:18 PM)

"So, the Speed Force, huh? Uncle B talks about it sometimes, and I know it's where I get the powers from, but it's been so long since I've had to consider it in terms of just how it looks to the take over the world crowd."

"Don't worry. He'll be visiting you again with your aunt once you can stay awake longer. You've been dozing in and out a few times. Luckily, I was not offended."

"I'd be a slaughtered mess if you were."

"No, I think we'll keep you alive. But if you ever worry me like that again, I will shoot you in the face. With my father's shotgun," Barbara concludes, with an amused smirk and an extra flourish when waving her wrist.

"I love you?" Because that's the only thing Wally can come up with after that touching, although possibly slightly exaggerated, tale (Barbara wouldn't tell him just how 'emotionally fragile' the Team got, although she promised a field trip to the wall both Dick and Supes dented in his honor when the Team found out the news).

"No you don't. I was the one trying to trade you in as slave labor for store credit at that shoe place off Supulva Boulevard."

"Who defended my honor against that wonderful decision?"

"Robin, for both himself and your idiot better halves, still hopped up on morphine and the good drugs. He didn't even use the excuse that Artemis and Dick would kill him. So proud. Beast Boy helped though, morphed into a dog and acted like I carved his heart out with a batarang, the way he whined."

"Epic," and Wally can only hope his voice doesn't sound as tired as he feels, still.

Barbara brushes the hair back against his forehead and kisses him there, gently, and then hops off the bed. Before she goes, she orders him to go to sleep.

His last memory, however fuzzy it may be, is him attempting to salute and calling her "Ma'm."

* * *

_**Alright, time for my extremely long spilling of emotions that are somewhat relevant to this story.**_

_**Story and Future Updates: **__First off, I'd like to apologize for how long it took me to get this out, especially after that cliffhanger. This is one of those chapters I needed to write in large bulks, so unlike one of my new stories, I couldn't just randomly add a few lines here and there and be able to make it all work later. Also, my sister just graduated and real life has slaughtered me, so the past two weeks have been hectic. Sorry!  
_

_I have so many plans and ideas for this epilogue of awesomeness (my name for it) so I'm not entirely sure when it will be officially sent out (before mid July, most likely, but my homepage always has a rough estimate, so check there if you get curious and wonder when). It will be part continuation of everyone being "He's ALIVE!" so if you're looking for touching character moments, you're in luck, and part future future future so I can throw in Impulse and Dawn having Wally and Barry wrapped around her little finger.  
_

_I tried to keep the Speed Force as simple as I could, partially because, while I knew I would be using it at the start of the story for why he was kept alive in the first place, I didn't know exactly what aspects of it I would be using in this. I'll probably elaborate further, slightly, in the next chapter during a conversation between Bart, Barry, and Wally.  
_

_**My Depths feelings:** Best. Episode. Ever. Kind of, sorta. Lagoon Boy is gone. Can I just have a minute to be happy? Now, normally, I don't like bashing characters, everyone gets to have an opinion and I respect that, but I never liked him and when he complained about being typecast as the water guy, I was just no, no, no, you don't get to talk anymore. I was messaging baou21 during the episode and I'm pretty sure I talked about a hate club over the catchphrase Neptune's Beard, that is my level of hate. I should feel worse about being so happy, I really should. I was genuinely worried for Artemis and they had me up until the end with the Nightwing picture scene and I was so worried for his friendship with Wally, and then Kaldur appeared and I was all, "NOOOOO!" but then the world became a magical, wonderful place again. Because he's not evil. I got so emotional and excited. Honestly, it was wonderful. (On a related note, I was going to have Tempest pop up but then I figured I could bring Kaldur instead so I went for that reason, and partially because I can't remember just how Garth is characterized right now). And we found out what the hell Speedy and Impulse were up to, me gusta. And Carol Farris! Yay! But for me, I think the strongest scene was finding out about Supermartian, because all I wanted to do was reach into the television to hug Superboy. When this story ends, I'm writing him is own. Cause he deserves it. It was just so touching and genuine, and I wanna slap M'gann now. Which makes me kind of sad. There isn't enough room for me to describe my feelings for this episode, but a few of you who I was talking to about this already know that (and I'm sorry to baou21, BlueFox of the Moon, Ally Marton, and Kaiser Wilhelm for spilling my emotions on the floor. I can't control myself.)  
_

_**Random Notice**: So, I went back to Bloodlines, and I realized Mal is considered a visitor, aka A10, instead of a Team member. That's just another character on the Team we don't know about. So out of 22, at least, possible Team members, we officially know 17, 18 if including Tempest. This is worse than I thought. Part of me is now believing more and more about a possible Jason Todd return, although I still largely doubt it... I can't handle this wait, at all. Best guess is that it will return end of September. And also, I knew I missed Wally already, but Coldhearted aired and I want him to be young and snarking more again. I've got too many feelings now._

_I hope the length of this chapter makes up for the wait. See you all soon for the epilogue.  
_

_As always, I hope you have a gorgeous day.  
_


	8. How We Played It

**Title: We Were Once Perfect (8/8)**

**Warnings:** Potential spoilers for entire series and future episodes (yay head-canon ideas and guesswork!) Oh, and character death, both true and assumed.

_**Note: Alright, I'm about to explode with emotion, but I'm going to try and hold it together until the end author notes, but, just in case you don't read them, I just want to thank everyone immensely, from the bottom of my heart, for reading this and, in many cases, reviewing it. When I started this, I never guessed it would be so well received or even eight chapters of over 50000 words. And today is both Tim Drake's birthday and the day I go see the Dark Knight Rises so let's make this super special in celebration.  
**_

_This story is based off the wonderful __**Ally Marton's**__ prompt: Wally supposedly dies in a mission, but somehow he comes back to the team years later, as Wally, not some Cadmus clone or traitor. How does the team (both old and new) react? The things she definitely wanted were the team actually thinking Wally had been dead for years and them happily going mental getting him back. I took that basic prompt and further elaborated to make it a story of Wally (__and technically us with this time skip__) coming to terms with everything that changed._

_Response to anon reviews. **ZS:** I'm thrilled you thought it was worth the wait, and I hope you enjoy this conclusion.  
_

_Of course, keeping in theme with the mostly humorous story I've told, the first part of this became angsty. Because that is how I roll. Slaps self. And I'm sorry this came out so much longer than I expected-I got sick for a few weeks and real life and yeah.  
_

_For the final time in this main story, I hope this delivers to you the same enjoyment it gave me writing it. _

_Title taken from the Automatic Loveletter song, Hush. I kept listening to Lana Del Rey's Dark Paradise while writing this, randomly, which is where the chapter title comes from.  
_

_Disclaimer: I don't own any of this, at all, DC and respective creators do. (Although I like to think my Batgirl is a little extra special and canon.)_

**Summary:** 2016 spoilers. After two years, Wally faces a long road back home. Fortunately, the Team is there to get him up to speed. Or, where Wally corrupts new members, Nightwing snarks, the new generation kidnaps, and Batgirl's the biggest BAMF of all.

* * *

(August 2, 2016, 7:00 AM)

"I still refuse to recognize this as a real time," Wally argues, not for the first or last time, gesturing angrily to the newly arrived clock on the wall, the clock someone, most likely Barbara, realized the medical rooms actually needed.

"That's wonderful. Next time I'm down for the count in the hospital bed, you can enact revenge. Considering our track records, you're only going to have to wait another three years," Dick replies unapologetically, using a tray to slide a bowl to him, one filled with what Wally knows to his very core is a healthy alternative to his favorite teeth rotting cereal brand.

Becoming an older brother has _warped _Richard, and it's up to Wally, as his best friend, to fix him. Beginning with petulantly shoving the tray right back to the source.

Said source looks unimpressed, lifts the bowl, and slams the tray down onto Wally's stomach. The bowl follows onto the tray, and Wally knows further fighting will lead to him being fed against his will. Most likely with pictures to be shown to his family. Actually, that's a guarantee because Dick is a dick before 9:00 AM on a good day, much less one like this, where Wally is as difficult and moody as he'll allow himself to be.

"You're no longer my special snowflake."

"Is that supposed to encourage me to stop or actively make me continue? Because your pet name use for me in public make girls glare at me for _cheating_ on you."

"I thought me borrowing Jaime's dog and getting Beast Boy in puppy form to act as our kids was the most brilliant thing I've done. Ever."

"While I've been having nightmares for the past seven years of you possibly having children, I will use them against you in total warfare. Most likely with their mother's blessing," and Dick is being too snarky and a fake sort of bright for so early in the morning.

"That will just invite me to do the same."

"I plan on never letting you meet any potential children I have. Never ever. Well, that's not true. My kid will most likely marry yours so you can meet them at the wedding. And then never again. Because my blessing for the union will be me getting to be the de facto grandfather over you."

Wally knows they're bordering on passive aggressive despite how seemingly innocent the entire conversation is, but in the back of his head, he is already imagining just how frightening a kid with both his and Dick's genetic make-up would be. World domination is in sight.

He lets himself linger on the dream child for another moment before shaking his head and sitting up straighter in bed, looking at Dick, who is not smiling at all, just rather blandly staring back at his best friend.

Awesome.

"Can this not be a thing? Can we handle a mature conversation and get through this in one sitting? Because I keep nearly dying, and you keep _lying to my face_."

"Do you remember just how badly you pushed for answers you weren't ready for the last time we were in this same situation? Or how you ran off for a day, taking two decades of my life with you? Wally, don't make our issues to be just my fault, because they're not. As for the Kaldur thing, maybe you don't remember or didn't notice the amount of time you've spent dead to the world while people picked through your brain. _I did_. And I was not about to risk the lives of my closest friends in case you fell into the wrong hands. Which, hey, _you did_," Dick's voice is terse for the entire exchange, and his repeated movements, rolling his shoulders and shaking his head to avoid eye contact, only showcase just how stressed out he is, falling back on old behaviors Bruce had spent so much time trying to train him out of.

If Wally hadn't been the cause of the look on Dick's face, he'd have been halfway out the door on a quest for vengeance.

"I didn't ask to be kidnapped," Wally starts, but Dick's point about the mind reading more or less took all the wind out of his sails. Bastard.

"I know," and while still slightly strained, Dick is at least looking at him, and it gives hope to Wally that they'll actually be able to get through this without bloodshed.

"We could just let it it go. Move past things in a timely fashion. Like we used to." And they did used to, before his death, before he ruined them for roughly two years. To top it off, once they got through everything, grieved together, he got kidnapped, again, only to wake up to the biggest lie of all, Kaldur in perfect health.

Ugh, they're so screwed up.

"Wally?"

"It's okay, Dick. I'm fine."

"No, but you will be."

And Wally goes and ruins the moment by snorting and sing-songing, "Corny!" It also brings him back to a few months ago, when he had been given a similar promise after waking from the dead. It had come true then, for the most part, and it would this time, corniness be damned.

That, if nothing else, breaks the tension, makes them revert back to Dick and Wally, the Team's worst nightmare inducing duo.

Dick lets out a long sigh that gives way to a grin tugging at the corner of his lips, "Alright, you stop getting kidnapped for about five years, and I'll answer all of your questions. Then we calm down, argue a little more, and let this go. Deal?"

"All of them?"

"Five vetoes."

"Four and I get to overrule one."

"Deal."

"Deal," Wally mimics a second later, lunging for Dick's hand to squeeze it gently before sinking back into the pillows, vindictively pushing the forgotten cereal bowl as far away as possible.

Dick lets him.

* * *

(August 2, 2016, 1:00 PM)

Wally is surprised to find himself left alone in the kitchen, although he doesn't mind, easily placing the three pizza boxes on a table, rushing back to the fridge to get a bottle of soda and snagging a cushion for his back. (He's not sure who the mothering voice in his head belongs to, although his best guess is a mix of Uncle Barry and Dick.)

"You're not dead. Batgirl owes me ten bucks," Robin says, sliding into a seat across from Wally. He's proud of himself for not flinching at the unexpected voice. Beast Boy tumbles into his own chair seconds later, more focused on the pizza on the table than actually checking on Wally.

"Only ten? I'm offended on a deeply personal level." Beast Boy and another voice behind him laugh at the utterly unaffected, bland look on Robin's face.

"Wonder Girl or Blue Beetle?" Wally asks Beast Boy, not bothering to turn around to see who exactly decided to drag a chair to join the group.

"Both!" Cassie's perky voice rings out, right next to his ear (and he can not critique anyone on a lack of indoor voice, but still) while Blue settles in quieter to his left, a nice buffer if Beast Boy decides to lunge for the same slice of pizza Wally's going for and forces Wally to murder him.

Blue, because he is a decent human being despite having a voice in the back of his head that defaulted to bloodthirsty, most likely chose his seat on purpose for that very reason.

"So, you're alive," Cassie starts, tugging at his arm and lightly shaking it.

"Really? Thought I ended up in the bad place. I'd tell you more about it, but you kids are a little young." He adds that last bit rather pointedly, giving a side look at a grinning Beast Boy. Cassie huffs in mock offense, while Robin just raises an eyebrow. Oh yeah, Gotham boy does not appreciate the lip.

Whatever reply Beast Boy has is tragically lost as Blue shoves a crust into his mouth.

"We need to have a toast," Cassie decides, "Because we are the cool kids-"

"And Wally," Beast Boy adds.

"And Beast Boy," Blue Beetle follows up, proving once again to be the good one in the motley crew.

"-and totally amazed everyone with out skills during the last fight," she continues, blithely.

Robin takes a liberal swig of his bottle of water, and Wally briefly nurtures the troubling idea of a drunken Robin doing the same. Even he knows just how badly that would end for everyone. Everyone. Especially him and Dick because they would get blamed for something like that, even if innocent, which they never were.

Wally knows this will never happen though, because Tim is as brilliant as he is tenacious and cautious and with so much potential that it's almost heartbreaking, the way he strives constantly to fight for Gotham and everyone else. Wally remembers wanting to resent Tim for taking over his best friend's mantle, but that's wrong, because he's striving constantly to make it his own, determined to do so in a way that is almost adorable, even if Tim would have to regretfully enact Batgirl's threat of impaling Wally with a batarang if Wally ever said that to his face.

Then, there's Cassie, ignoring his searching look to playfully pout at Blue, who raises his own drink and earns a smile. She's warm and welcoming but oh so fierce when she needs to be, will become hero worshiped by millions of little girls before they know it, charmed by that ability to show heart and spunk and _personality_ when no one else does.

Garfield already has his drink waving in the air, uncaring that most of it is threatening to spill out, more focused on elbowing Tim in the side and most likely reiterating a joke lame for Wally's taste. Garfield, who collects souvenirs and loves his older sister and misses his mother openly when he needs support, which is rare, because he sees green skin as a gift that should be celebrated and makes sure everyone else joins a similar thought process.

Finally, Wally takes a look at Jaime, shockingly the bastion of sanity when Robin decides it is no longer his job. The one who should worry him the most, the one who talks to himself and fears hurting others just as much as he does not saving them. Jaime, who Wally discovered on his own just how unfailing loyal he is, even without the story of Ty and his frantic, continuous search. The one who keeps both Beast Boy and Wonder Girl grounded, and Robin confident.

They are the cool kids.

Wally raises his drink, "Cheers."

* * *

(August 3, 2016, 7:00 PM)

It is Babs, fittingly, who brings him back home, helping him out of the hospital room for a final time and to the entrance of the Cave, where he'll beam out to Central City and crash for a week on his bed in the Allen-West house before speeding off to visit his parents.

"Are you sure you don't need to linger in here another moment? I know it must be difficult to see the room through the waves of tears that are no doubt filling your eyes."

Wally, dry-eyed and not exhausted, makes a big deal of pretending to be shaky on his feet, leaning all of his weight against her. (_Take that_.)

Barbara drops him. She's evil like that.

"You cannot be surprised," she tells him, sprawled out on the floor.

And he isn't, shouldn't be, but as the injured party, some sympathy would be nice.

"Yeah, that's not going to happen."

Bats can read his mind, and he does not like it. Wally gets up quickly enough, and does indeed spend another second to say a hallelujah about leaving the room, before reaching for the bag he had filled with clothes and a few other objects, but it is gone. When Wally goes through the doorway, he sees Babs has been joined by Kaldur, taking the bag out of her hands and waiting for him at the end of the hallway.

He's glad they were able to clear the air between them, outside of the massive apology and justification explanation that he and Dick had to give the rest of the Team last night. It's just another piece of his life that still slots into place, finally, even after two years and two captures later.

Wally even saw Bruce, briefly, dodging a board meeting to assure Wally just how quickly the League and Team were taking down whatever had captured him, even without the extra police support speeding the process up.

Wally gets to them before they can blink, throwing an arm over each of their shoulders, going so far as to forcibly put Kaldur's on him as he laughed quietly. Babs squeezes his hand and doesn't shake his arm off until he's at the entrance of the Cave, where Superboy, Dick, and his four baby cool kids wait, with Miss M, Roy, and Artemis nearby as well.

What catches his eye the most though is the front of the zeta beam, where Aunt Iris, Uncle Barry, and Dawn wait.

He doesn't actually need to leave to go home anymore.

* * *

...

...

...

...

...

* * *

(March 2, 2022, 11:00 PM)

"Is Mr. Freeze loose again?" Flash asks from his perch on the rooftop, nowhere near close to the edge, unlike Red Robin, scanning the streets below before turning to face the other man, family eyebrow raised in the characteristic, 'Oh, look, a speedster is asking a question, how adorable. What the hell are they saying?' way. Flash has been shamelessly causing that look for over a decade and has no qualms with admitting it.

"It's cold." And to further prove his point, he briefly shivers, although he's been colder, and colder _longer_, and Red Robin knows it.

"Kevlar," Tim replies, gently tugging at his costume, the mocking phrase said as sweetly as he can while in the cowl, which isn't very nice at all, but Wally can read between the lines and mock gasps all the same.

"Oh, little, former Baby-Bird, how can you be so cruel after being so lovingly raised? Where did Babs and I go wrong?"

"Between the trips to Vegas," is all he gets in response before Tim slips back into Red Robin and scans the streets yet again.

Those trips to Vegas were epic, and he will not allow them to be soured or insulted like this.

Except for the fact he likes to pretend his better halves (_one-thirds? Or does Dick count as his better half in crime fighting while Artemis is his better half as a wife and never mind, Wally doesn't care enough to think more about this_) don't know about aforementioned trips, so there's very little he can do before Tim threatens to rat them out, wrath of Barbara be damned.

He misses when he was Tim's favorite; those were good years.

"Months, and honestly, you were never number one. Your adorable pseudo sister, uncle, and aunt beat you on the worst days."

Wally doesn't bother calling him out on his lie, only chirps (and he purposefully does it in that chipper tone), "Impulse will be heartbroken to hear that."

Tim, in return, gives him a filthy look and stops playing the chatting game.

There's a certain joy Wally finds in being shameless and mocking his family. An open joy, one he clearly spelled out in his wedding vows as Dick sighed beside him and shared a look with a smirking Artemis that spoke volumes for how insane the two of them were.

Still, Tim makes him work for the aforementioned filthy looks in a way Dick never did.

"Where is the rest of the clan anyway?"

"Batman's with the League. Where you should be," Red Robin replies, which causes Flash to snort at him. He and Batman weren't allowed to go on missions together if it could be avoided. Mainly because certain members were never sure whether it was actually Bruce or Dick, occasionally filling in for the big guy.

Crashing one jet, one time does not mean he and Dick have a pattern of destructive behavior. They don't! Honestly. Alright. They do, they really do, but the League isn't allowed to hold out of costume activities against them.

Besides, he and Cassie are far more likely to cause property damage.

"A certain woman may or may not be hacking cameras nearby as we speak." Wally makes a note to wave to Babs before he goes away.

"Nightwing and the present-future tragedy were patrolling in the business sector earlier." And it's Tim, not Red Robin, scowling upon mentioning the new Robin, although, fittingly, Wally pats him on the shoulder in commiseration. While Tim ended up being best friends, partners, and possibly psychic with his former nightmare, Wally stills knows the horrors of an unwanted relative taking your former mantle and does not hold Tim's lack of support for Wally's plight against him.

Anymore. (What? Bart was not endearing in any way when he first popped over.)

"Note we did it without you. Inadequacy need not apply," Robin's voice carries across the rooftop, and while Tim does not seem startled to hear Damian's voice, Wally is and turns around to see both Nightwing and Robin on the rooftop.

"Really? Do you guys have to do this now?" Dick whines, and it is a whine. Babs would be making fun of him if she was there, so Wally notes to both tell her and mock Dick for her, because he has loyalties and is smart enough to know who is more likely to leave Gotham to take over the rest of the world.

Wally pokes him in the shoulder while Tim and Damian bicker nearby, but he and Dick don't intervene until violence or Damian mocking Tim for not being a real Wayne comes up.

"You're lucky Bruce isn't here to maim you for coming in costume."

"He wouldn't maim me. Just break a few ribs. Besides, had to fetch a criminal, thought I spotted a bat-shaped gargoyle, and low and behold, I get a Tim special."

"You're position was so obvious even _he_ could see you?" Damian picks that up, and Wally sends an apologetic look over his head that has Tim rolling his eyes.

"Hey!" Wally realizes he has the right to be insulted, but is ignored.

"Still going to see you at the party?" Wally asks Dick.

"Wouldn't miss it for anything," Dick replies, and then Nightwing is flying across the rooftop to stop a fight between Red Robin and Robin.

Because they're not the only ones who can make silent disappearances, Flash decides he can use the chaos to sneak away.

He trips over something, makes a ton of noise, and knows that the multiple security cameras that center on him mean that Barbara is laughting at him as well.

And yet again, Wally rues having family in Gotham.

* * *

(March 5, 2022, 3:15 PM)

Dawn, bless her loyal heart, decides princesses are not for her sixth birthday party, but superheroes are more than welcome.

That's why Wally finds himself navigating through a crowd of miniature Batmans, Flashes, Supermans, a Batgirl, and a trio of Wonder Girls (because honestly, six year old girls should be mimicking the one that wears pants), and a few odd assortments of others he doesn't recognize as easily.

In a corner of the room, underneath a banner hanging from the ceiling, Tim is entertaining the eldest child of all, Bart, who has more or less decided to spend the day sneaking cake and lamenting the lack of baby Impulses, an idea that Tim looks equal parts excited and horrified about. Don, Dawn's three year old brother, shows more maturity than his future son (in an alternate reality, because Dawn and Don weren't twins and Impulse has been proven more often wrong than anywhere close to right) and rests sedately in Bart's arms, staring at Tim with widening, worshiping eyes. Wally now knows where Bart gets it from.

Years ago, he and Dick mutually decided that their children would combine their DNA to be frightening monsters, but Tim and Bart might beat them to the punch with their own children.

It honestly makes Wally want to weep and beg Artemis to shoot any woman who could give Bart a child. Wifely duties.

Because she is amazing despite her taste in men, Artemis appears at his side and looks to where his gaze has rested before nudging him in the side. When he tells her his theory and demands help, she levels him a look before giving him a smirk, one that does not bode well for his sanity, "Why worry about their grandchildren? They could always adopt together. There, no DNA, no wives to shoot, still frightening combination that gives you terrors and will break your brain." She kisses his cheek and goes to talk to her younger, somewhat removed cousin-in-law. His brain might in fact be broken.

"Wally!" Dick shouts from another room, and when Wally eventually finds him, Dick is surrounded by enraptured children, including Dawn, who waves at him after she adjusts her Flash cowl.

"Now tell him what I taught you. Who is the best superhero of all?"

Wally knows they will not say Flash, not even little Dawn, who got her father's goofy charm but, more importantly, mother's sly humor.

"Nightwing!"

Wally is not surprised by this at all.

"And who is the second best?"

"Batman!" The ones in costume are extremely vocal, most likely making up for a few quieter Supermans.

"And the third?"

"Robin!" Dick passes out candy to all the little traitors, giving Dawn her piece along with a kiss on the crown of her head as he fixes her slipping mask. They run out of the room, leaving Wally with Dick's mocking smile.

"Joke's on you. There was no scream of Batgirl. I'm telling."

"A price I'm willing to pay. Besides, I know Tim has something on you, and I can trick Impulse into telling me."

"That's not fair. We decided three years ago tricking him for information made this too easy, hard, or fu-messed up," and Wally is careful not to swear here because his aunt will slaughter him with extreme prejudice if the kiddos learn a new word from him.

"Fine. I'll just get Tim to tell me anyway. No patrol with Damian for a week," Dick counters with a smirk.

"You're a fiend and a horrible person, and I am so proud of myself for being your best friend."

Cassie, carting around a mini Batgirl and a little archer, snorts as she passes them by, gives a parting shot of "Famous last words."

"You're not my favorite!"

Cassie doesn't even bother turning around, just openly laughs at him before telling him what a horrendous liar he is.

"She really is though," and Wally does not spend that moment reflecting on his life choices, he does not.

Besides, she's Jaime's problem now.

Gar slinks by as a cat, cocking his head at Wally and Dick, who point in the direction Cassie left in and where he follows.

Uncle Barry's laugh resounds in his ears, as does Dawn's high pitched giggle. Through the doorway Wally can see her being carried on his shoulders, one arm lightly fisting blonde hair and the other holding a stuffed puppy, one Wally knows she did not have earlier nor received as an official gift. (Three weeks later, Wally will come for a visit to see them playing with a dopey puppy while Aunt Iris looks on, chagrined at how badly indulged her daughter had become.)

"God, you know we ruined her for life, right?"

Dick knows perfectly well how he meant that statement, but, as Wally has claimed for thirteen years, Dick truly is a _horrible_ person because he immediately states, "Genetics can warp even the youngest mind." From a scientific viewpoint, Wally would love to debate that, but at his little sister's sixth birthday, all he does is aim a general kick in Dick's direction and lets his expression, 'you know that's not what I meant you ass' speak for itself.

"Remember when we almost bought her that toy store?" Dick mentions, finally complying to be on track with Wally's train of thought.

"Last week or the three hundred other times we thought that was the best use of Uncle Brucie's money?"

"Yeah." That answers nothing. Wally wishes Superboy was around to hit Dick for him because his punches hurt more, and Dick always made an obnoxious deal about it.

Dick laughs suddenly, "She's not going to be able to date. Ever. And Don's potential partner will have to face down her, mommy-Iris, and the combination of Bart and Tim."

"Please, Uncle Barry will be all 'Have fun. Just make sure you have her home by curfew and treat my little princess right, deal?' while we all interrogate the unfortunate soul."

"We'll make it a bonding day with Conner."

"Lian will be dating too; it would be a shame to deny Roy any potential experience. And god-daddy Kaldur too."

"Gar and Jaime are going to have kids one day, well Gar when he's responsible enough to be the parent, it can be a learning opportunity."

"If we label it as training, do you think we can write it off as the mandatory training hours the League makes us go through?"

"I thought you had Babs hack the system and automatically clear you?"

"I got lippy with her. She took it back, man!" And Wally does know he's whining, even without Dick's input.

"That's your own fault then. But I don't see why we can't phrase it in a persuasive way and set it up."

"Alright. Lying to Superman time!"

"Let's not tell Conner about that part."

Dick looks at Wally.

Wally looks at Dick.

"Deal."

* * *

**Alright guys, deal with my emotions one more time-I'll try to keep everything relevant to this story at the top before I get all grateful and ranting.**

First off, I cannot express just how wonderful everyone has been in encouraging this story in all ways, shapes, and forms. As I type this final note up, this story has had roughly 5700 hits, 43 favs, and 58 alerts, along with so many reviews and kind words my heart is going to beat right out of my chest, doing somersaults. Hopefully I'll be hearing a lot from you with the end of this chapter, so until then.

Secondly, I just wanted to explain a little bit of what you just read. While I had to juggle a lot of characters (thank you show, thank you so much for that), when I started writing this, I planned for the core to be the friendship between Dick and Wally, and while that theme remained, the supporting characters, specifically Batgirl, the foursome of Blue, BB, Wonder Girl, and Robin, and to a lesser extent Superboy and Dawn, ended up making their own spaces in this, so I wanted to make sure they got their own special send offs in both the 2016 and 2022 versions. I think I was a little light on the Batgirl just because she got so much time in the last chapter, and I may have been a little to heavy on Robin just because of how many stories I'm now writing for him (4) but overall, I think I got a balance I hope you can all like as much as I do. And it's Tim Drake's birthday so I decided he could be the center of the first 2022 story.

Third, Don is actually Impulse's comic father and Dawn's twin, but I never thought the show would go through with it, so I made Dawn an only child and then decided ALTERNATE REALITY would explain Impulse. Damian Wayne was/is Tim Drake's successor and younger brother (kind of) and you grow to love him even though he is a little bastard, but it's not entirely his fault. He takes the Robin mantle while Tim becomes Red Robin.

I _may_ one day add another chapter to this, Dick centered that shows just how bad those two years were for him, along with a few other things not possibly covered by this story, and (if people actually like the birthday scene above) maybe even one final scene in 2022 so **DO NOT UN-ALERT**! If this ever happens, it will most likely be in late August, and you can all thank Kaiser Wilhelm for giving me the idea if it comes to fruition.

Furthermore, the big friendship I forced Blue, BB, WG, and Robin into continues into a psuedo spin off of this, _Grow to Love Secrecy_, that takes place in canon but uses this friendship and the survival guide of the early chapter from this story.

There will never be a full blown sequel to this, but honestly, all of the character interactions, the friendships, the Batgirl being three billion types of amazing, are all factors of my 2022 centered story _Measure a Year_ but with the Blue-Robin-BB-WG-Impulse friendships being primary while Dick-Wally-Babs-Roy-Superboy are secondary. I'm not saying to go and read it but it you're ever craving more of certain aspects of _We Were Once Perfect_, you will most likely find it in that story.

I'm going to go for more ranting about the show and gratefulness of everyone who joined me on this adventure, so if you've already checked out of this loooong AN, I understand.

To my reviewers (and I am so apologetic if I butchered the caps on your names, it's the program, I swear): Anon, Ally Marton, baou21, BlueFox of the Moon, ccsakura21, Detectiveram, Dextra2, Faywe, GraNNIeShufflez03,Gravity Shade, HGM67, Hooloovooshift-Speedster, Jazbez, Jazzmonkey, Lolmak, Kaiser Wilhelm, misere, Nalanzu, NotYourBirthday, Pottyandweezlbe89, Robin Red R, RoseGlass, Shadowtail43, silverangel83, Spawn of Hades, Tharrow, The Ghost of Injustice, won't be the Victim, and ZS, I just want to say thank you again for taking the time out to review and not being too bothered when I filled your inboxes with my gratitude (and if I ever missed sending a thank you message, sorry, but I didn't mean to).

There are few people who I spammed and talked to more than Kaiser Wilhelm, BlueFox of the Moon, Dextra2 (who told me WonderBeetle was a thing apparently), Jazzmonkey, and especially baou21, who I probably emotion exploded to more than Ally Marton herself. So thank you all an extra bit.

This story would not have been possible without Ally Marton giving me the prompt and encouraging me; you told me that I made this story my own but I can only hope that it filled the prompt to your satisfaction.

**Now, it wouldn't be me without me venting about this show, so here I go:** in relation to the Comic-Con 2012 trailer where we saw a bunch of little things for the next episodes. First, there is a part of me still in shock that STATIC is actually there. All the people on the internet who thought he would come and I get to be RIGHT! But part of me is a little sad about this too-I know, I know, but here me out. There are at least FOUR Team Members (last chapter's AN explains more in detail) that we have yet to meet, and honestly, the Team would have been searching if Static was a part of the Team before, so I doubt he is a member of the Team already.

I love these new characters from this season to a scary degree, (is my Tim Drake and Impulse love not obvious by this point?), but I think there's a risk of having too many characters, and that can hurt the show. So while I love Static and miss his show every damn day, I can't be as happy as I should be just because he's not going to be the only new character added and I don't think she show can handle that many more and give them full characterization that won't take too much time from another character. Besides, I want more Wonder Girl, Blue Beetle, Aqualad!, and everyone else! By the way, Tula flashback! And I need more clone and real Roy.

I'm going to stop myself here before I go on, but yeah.

For a final time, I would like to thank you for reading this and spending your time in my corner of the internet.

As always, have a lovely day,

ClampLover


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